Love goes for 43 and 17, Wolves never get ball back at end, lose 115-113 at Denver

OK, I'm sure you're wondering, so here's Kurt Rambis' explanation from Saturday's two-point loss at Denver.

Down 20 in the third quarter, still behind by nine with 1:12 left, the Wolves scored seven straight points and got within a basket after Martell Webster scored with 27.3 seconds left.

Then what?

Rambis chose not to foul and rather played for a defensive stop, even though there was only a three-second differential betwen the shot and game clock.

Carmelo Anthony worked the 24-second clock down to the final second before arcing a shot that missed, but consumed the next three seconds as it rose, fell and was knocked around out of bounds before the Nuggets were awarded possession with three-tenths of a second left.

The Wolves never got their hands on the ball again after Webster's shot.

Here's what Rambis said afterward about that decision to rely on defense and rebounding rather than take the chance that the Nuggets will extend the lead to four points with a pair of free throws.

"We just didn't come up with the rebound unfortunately."

Nuggets coach George Karl seemed surprised the Wolves didn't foul, but also thankful the Wolves never got their hands back on the ball after Anthony missed.

"Melo, I thought, did a nice job of running the clock, took a shot in the end that had some arc to it, which toook another second, and the ball bounced our way a little bit there. If Melo was going to miss the shot, I was sure glad they were not going to get a shot."

All of that late-game manuevering almost made you forget some Kevin Love's night

Almost.

What's next after that?

Love joined Clippers rookie Blake Griffin as the only players this season to record a 40-point, 15-rebound game with a career-high 43 point, 17 rebound game Saturday.

And he did it at altitude, playing his fourth game in five nights, on that formerly broken butt cheek.

Griffin went for 44 and 15 against the Knicks last month.

Included in Love's night was his 5-for-5 shooting from three-point range.

"I just felt good out there. I say this now, but legs weren't really as fresh as I'd them to be. I kept my balance and I kept letting it fly."

The Nuggets had some interesting stuff to say about him, praise, I think it wa

Somebody silly made a Wilt Chamberlain comparison to Love, to which Karl replied, "No, but he is better than Wes Unself offensively. We survived a helluva show. It was great. Kid played fantastic. On film, you don't realize how well he shoots the ball. Shooting, his release now, it looks like it is going to go in every shot."

Said Melo: "Everybody knows that is what he does (rebounding). He always rebounds well and controls the paint, but the way he is scoring the basketball inside, shooting threes. For him to come out and score 43 points is big time for him. For a guy like that, who plays hard -- every possession he attacked the offensive glass every time -- and for some reason he always seems to get his hand on the basketball. I can see why when I look on stats sheets on numerous night and he has 20 and 20."

And J.R. Smith's take: "I thought he had 40 and 20, but he played brilliant. It's crazy because all his stuff is throughout the offense. Everything is in flow and is in motion. He's never rushing anything. He gets good shots and he gets other players open. He's a hell of a player. It is very school school because it is slow and you can't stop it. It is not like he is the fastest guy. He uses his brain and he is very talented."

"The numbers he's putting up, you just don't see those kinds of numbers. It's been a long time since somebody has been able to put the rebounding numbers along with the scoring numbers. For him, there's just no easy way of doing it. He just has to battle and bang every time and every coach is telling his team to keep him off the boards and he still finds a way. And he's still growing as a player."

A couple other things from tonight:

* Jonny Flynn took a bit of leap tonight, both in terms of minutes and his impact on the game, even though Ty Lawson clearly stole the show with a 23-point game starting at point guard for injured Chauncey Billups. OK, so forget the Wolves once again drafted a guy and traded him away the same night...although I'm not willing yet, as some posters are here, to write him off as inferior to the rest of that draft class that includes Lawson, Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, Rodrique Beaubois, etc.

I'm not simply because of the foreign system he has been asked to play and because of how lousy the Wolves were last season. Give him the rest of this season -- and next season, too, probably -- and then you can start to draw some conclusion. End of last season Tyreke Evans looked like the steal of the draft and possibly a future Hall of Famer with those statistical comparisions to Jordan, LeBron and the Big O, but now...Only time tells on these things.

Anyway, Flynn played 24 minutes -- seven minutes more than any of his first three games back from hip surgery --and found his rhythm really for the first time in nearly 14 straight minutes in the second half

"He played well tonight," Love said. "He set up players up on the offensive end. He's still probably a half step slow, still a litlte bit getting in shape. But you saw with his minutes getting up, hes' getting in better shape and getting back to the old Jonny."

* I can't find the exact time and sequence in my notes right now -- it's late -- but there was a sequence down the stretch where the Wolves got within maybe six, turned the ball over (Corey Brewer I think, which usually isn't a bad guess anyway). While they were pouting about it during an in-bounds play, the Nuggets struck quick and scored on a long pass and layup.

"I think that's the second time that's happened to us on this road trip," Rambis said. "When you consider the score of the ballgame, that's the difference right there. Those are the sorts of mistakes young teams can make and hopefully it's a learning experience for our guys and they won't repeat it for the rest of their careers.

"Guys get disappointed and they have high expectations and they want to win and they know that they are a team that turns the ball over and they get frustrated every time they do. There's nobody out there on the floor grabbing everybody to keep them going."

* Rambis by and large praised his team for withstanding the absence of their top two centers, the mile-high altitude, their fourth game in five nights and giving themselves a chance to win.

"They're getting more and more competitive in ballgames, but ultimately they need to win. That's what's going to push them and start sending them off in in the right direction. That's my opinion, my belief."

That's all from Denver here tonight, Saturday night.

The Wolves flew to L.A. after the game -- don't be too jealous, it's supposed to pour there all weekend as a series of winter storms hit Southern California -- and play the Clippers Monday night.

That's a game that will feature this season's two 40/15 guys, Mr. Love and Blake Griffin, who sure looks like a lock for Rookie of the Year, doesn't he?

Anyway, good night.