Mirror images?: Wolves lose 118-117 in OT to Thunder

Now, if the Wolves would only play like this every night.

Yes, they lost again, for the 35th time in 45 games here Wednesday night at Target Center.

Yes, they committed too many turnovers again when they could least afford them (including two by rookie Wes Johnson at crunch time).

Yes, they again missed too many free throws, seven compared to an opponent that made 26 of 27.

And yes, their veteran point guard once again committed a hoopster faux pas when he rushed a three-point shot with a timeout remaining in the game's final five seconds.

But...

Thunder coach Scott Brooks didn't seem to be doing the obligatory condescending coachspeak when he said afterward the Wolves didn't lose this one, they're learning how to win.

Well, not exactly where the Thunder were two years ago because it had -- and has -- Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and the Wolves don't.

Durant was magnificent -- Brooks' word, not mine, although I agree -- with a 47-point, 18-rebound game that included 36 points after halftime and 16 straight points for the Thunder in the fourth quarter.

Afterward, Kevin Love was thunderstruck by Durant's performance, awed by a guy pushing 6-11 who can shoot right over the top of Johnson, Corey Brewer, Anthony Tolliver and anybody else Kurt Rambis can tell to guard him.

Love motioned to the locker room next to his and invoked the memory of Kevin Garnett as a comparison for what Love called a once-in-a-generation player with such length and skills.

And btw...if Love hadn't already done so, it sure sounded like he won Scott Brooks' all-star vote Wednesday night with a 31-point, 21-rebound game.

Consider this: Wednesday's game was the 22nd time this season Love has had a double-double in a single half alone.

He had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the second half tonight.

Only six other NBA players have that many double-doubles total this season.

It was his league-leading 40th double double and his 31st in a row, six shy now of Garnett's franchise record.

A few other things about the game:

Well, for one thing, they need Michael Beasley to score about 30 a game in addition to Love's nightly double-double to have a fighting chance.

This team has shown flashes when Beasley scores big. He did so with his first 30-point game since late December, which also not so coincidentally was the last time they won consecutive games.

He had 28 by early in the fourth quarter, and then didn't score again until he got a single bucket in overtime.

Apparently, his ankle is better.

When he's on, this team's future looks sparkly, but will he ever be as consistent as a guy like Love?

* Oh, those missed free throws...

Corey Brewer's miss -- the second of a pair -- that would have tied the game with 7.6 seconds left was the most obvious of all the Wolves' misses, but....

Luke Ridnour's miss with 12.2 seconds left in regulation time -- when he had the chance to extend a one-point lead to three -- was just as costly.

This was a guy who entered the game with the league's second-best free throw percentage -- 92.4 percent, second only to Steph Curry -- and who miss two of six tonight.

That one with 12 seconds left in the fourth allowed Jeff Green to tie the game with a little shot from the lane rather than make the Thunder hit a three to force overtime.

The Wolves had the ball, a timeout to call and about five seconds left, but Ridnour threw up a three that missed.

It looked open for an instant, that is before Russell Westbrook closed awfully fast.

"He was shocked, I think, that Westbrook closed out on him that fast," Rambis said. "These are all teaching points for our guys. They all know we had a time out, but he just thought that he was going to get a wide-open shot at it. If you call a timeout, you might not get that wide open a shot. It was just a decision he made and he just feels awful about it."

Well, that's all I got from Target Center here Wednesday night.

Wolves practice Thursday afternoon at Target Center, then fly to Salt Lake City for Friday night's game.