Another game won, another All-Star power forward dominated, Kevin Love stepped to the postgame television interview and delivered a bold statement.

“This is my time right now,” Love proclaimed.

Love had 39 points and 17 rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 95-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday in Minneapolis.

Love, an All-Star, 3-point shootout champion and perhaps budding MVP candidate, practically willed the Timberwolves over the .500 mark at 20-19.

He hit a jumper in Kenyon Martin’s face with 1:28 to play, then added what proved to be the winner by bulling to the basket for a little flip shot that has become one of his staples.

Love went 8 for 11 at the line

and 5 for 10 from 3-point range and scored nine points on 4-for-6 shooting with four rebounds in the fourth. The versatility and shot-making set him apart from Clippers star Blake Griffin, who had a good game of his own.

Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but he scored only four in the final period. He took only two shots in the period, went 0 for 4 at the line and picked up a costly technical foul when he jawed at referee Ken Mauer after pulling Luke Ridnour to the floor in one of the game’s many collisions near the basket.

“I think there was a lot of frustration,” Griffin said. “We have to do a better job of not letting that affect us. You don’t want to say that one particular thing won or lost the game, but it very well

could’ve been. I have to do a better job controlling my emotions.”

Thunder 95, Mavericks 91: Russell Westbrook scored 24 points and Kevin Durant added 22, and Oklahoma City scored the final eight points to defeat Dallas and run its home winning streak to 13 games.

Durant, Westbrook and top reserve James Harden went a combined 16 for 49 from the field as Oklahoma City managed to win without needing to make a basket in the final two minutes.

“The

thing is with us, we’ve just got to continue to just keep playing hard no matter if we’re making shots or not, and playing together on both ends,” Durant said. “It was a sloppy game, but I’m glad we came out on top.”

Westbrook answered Dirk Nowitzki’s fourth 3-pointer of the final period by hitting one of his own from the right wing to get Oklahoma City within 91-90 with 2:25 remaining, and Dallas didn’t score again.

Serge Ibaka hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to give Oklahoma City the lead for good.

Bulls 92, Pacers 72: Luol Deng scored 20 points, teaming with Derrick Rose in a decisive third-quarter rally that sent host Chicago past Indiana for its seventh consecutive victory.

Rose added 13 points and nine assists, making three 3-pointers while Deng had two in the third as the Bulls blew open a close game.

Bucks 97, 76ers 93: Beno Udrih hit a go-ahead jumper with just under a minute left, and host Milwaukee held off a late comeback to beat Philadelphia.

Brandon Jennings had 33 points and Drew Gooden added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who have been stuck in a funk for a little more than a month.

Nuggets 119, Kings 116: Arron Afflalo hit three free throws with 0.6 seconds left in regulation and Ty Lawson made a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in overtime as host Denver rallied to beat Sacramento.

The Los Angeles Lakers had the help of a masked man when taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 29. Even with a broken nose Kobe Bryant donned a clear protective mask and led the Lakers with 31 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists. His play was not only impressive to the fans, but I’m sure his teammates also were motivated to step up their play. If Bryant could produce with a broken nose, then they should be able to do the same.

Derek Fisher and Metta World Peace combined for 15 points on the night, and both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum had good showing against the Timberwolves. The Lakers were all over the Timberwolves from the opening tip-off. It wasn’t too difficult for the Lakers to impose their will, especially on defense, when the Timberwolves were without starting forward Kevin Love. Love came down with flu-like symptoms just minutes before game time.

Without Love in the lineup the Timberwolves looked out of rhythm and never really got things going. In the first and third quarters the Lakers outscored the Timberwolves 59 – 33 and it proved to be too much for the Timberwolves as they never led in the contest.

I liked the way the Lakers came out and staked claim to their home court advantage. They are a very difficult team to beat at home with a record of 15-2 – one of the best home records in the league. If they get better on the road, then they will again be one of the elite teams in the league.

Their win over the Timberwolves was their 17th straight win against Minnesota and they also managed to jump over the Dallas Mavericks into fourth place in the Western Conference. They also sit just half-a-game behind the Los Angeles Clippers in the Pacific Division.

I love the Lakers when they put forth a strong defensive effort. If they can translate their recipe for success at home to playing on the road, they could become unstoppable. The Lakers started out the second half of the season the way they wanted. Granted they sent a message to the league against a Timberwolves team that is not nearly as potent as when they have Love in the lineup.

Regardless, the Lakers are looking good and they will have a chance to send a big message to the league. They host the Miami Heat on Sunday, March 4 and that game will definitely be a test of their home court advantage. In the meantime, they host the Sacramento Kings on Friday, March 2.

David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where they post fresh content daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions – all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, “Not knowing any better”. Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.

You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp

Sources:

NBA.com. Lakers vs. Timberwolves Recap. NBA 2012.

More from David Mehrwein and the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

Nate Schierholtz Ready for Right Field: Fan Preview

Brian Wilson Ready for 2012: Fan Preview

Jim Harbaugh to be Inducted into 2012 Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame: Fan Reaction

San Francisco Giants Rich with Catching Prospects: Fan Opinion

Aubrey Huff Prepared to Reprise 2010 Performance: Fan Preview

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Timberwolves (18-18) at Suns (14-20)

C: Nikola Pekovic … Marcin Gortat
PF: Kevin Love … Channing Frye
SF: Wesley Johnson … Grant Hill
SG: Luke Ridnour … Jared Dudley
PG: Ricky Rubio … Steve Nash
Key Timberwolves injuries: Love missed last night’s loss to the Lakers with the flu. He already had been questionable for a sore back and bruised ribs.

Key Timberwolves reserves: Derrick Williams, Michael Beasley, J.J. Barea, Martell Webster, Darko Milicic.

On to today’s Orange Slices:

* This whole early-March home slate is only important if the Suns win tonight. Lose a second home game in a row tonight with all the urgency that has been expressed and a 7-10 US Airways Center record would say it all about this lack of promise.

They won’t acknowledge anything more than facing a young, talented opponent that has played well of late but the Suns do catch a scheduling break tonight. Minnesota played the last two nights against the Clippers and Lakers in Los Angeles, although Kevin Love missed Wednesday night’s game due to the flu and will be a game-time decision.

Minnesota had won five of six games before a 104-85 loss to the Lakers on Wednesday night, when Kobe Bryant scored 31 points with a mask protecting his broken nose. The Lakers have beaten the Timberwolves 17 consecutive times. The Suns have beaten Minnesota eight consecutive times with the last one coming last season when Channing Frye made nine 3-pointers.

“They’re deep and they’ve got shooters they can bring off the bench,” Gentry said of the Timberwolves. “They’ve got athletic guys. It’ll be a tremendous challenge for us.”

* NBATV analyst Greg Anthony had some direct comments about how the Suns are run when asked about Steve Nash’s situation on Brad Cesmat’s “Big Guy on Sports” show on KGME 910 on Wednesday.

“It’s hard to part ways, at least it should be,” Anthony said. “With a guy who’s been as exemplary as Steve Nash has been off the court and as impactful and powerful as he’s been on the court. You’re talking about a two-time MVP and future Hall of Famer. When you’ve got a team that’s struggling the way the Suns have over the last few years, there’s not a lot of other reasons to want to go see this basketball team. Maybe you want to take advantage of who he is as a player and try to get some other pieces in there. I just never got the sense the last couple years that ownership and management was really committed to winning … I haven’t really seen anything to prove otherwise. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for that organization to get back to being prominent again and be one of the elites.”

* On his weekly KTAR-AM (620) segment Wednesday, Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby re-re-re-re-reiterated his stance on not trading Nash.

“We’re not trading Steve Nash because he represents everything this franchise should stand for and does stand for,” Babby told the “Doug & Wolf” show. “He’s an important part of the fabric of this community and the fabric of our team. He’s earned the right to stay here as long as he wants and as long as he’s all in on our program. The value, I know this is shared by the organization, that he brings on and off the floor is incalculable. The impact he is having on our young players, particularly Markieff Morris and others, you can’t fully quantify. There’s one other very important reason. As we go through this process of rebuilding and moving forward, we’re going to have to be able to attract players here and retain players that we have. I’ve been through this process on the other side. I think it’s very, very important that we communicate the culture and the values that this franchise stands for. The most important value you can stand for is treating people the right way and respectfully and honoring the service they’ve provided. I think we’re communicating that to Steve and the NBA community at large.”

Babby also remained doubtful that the Suns would make any trade before the March 15 deadline, especially considering the franchise is trying to preserve the summer cap space it has coming.

“We’re not going to do anything that has a short-term vista on it,” Babby told KTAR. “It’s going to have to be something that makes us better or creates an opportunity to make us better in the long term.”

* In the latest Steve Nash speculation for a man who won’t asked to be traded and plays on a team that said it won’t trade him, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Mavericks writer Dwain Price tweeted that “the word on the streets is that the Mavs may trade Lamar Odom to Phoenix for Steve Nash.” We do know that Dallas owner Mark Cuban is intrigued but so are a lot of other teams when it comes to the guard having the best offensive season in the league.

* The common question from inside and outside the Suns is: what is the plan? The Suns seem to be sensitive to that. If you go to the team’s Web site, there is an unavoidable promo across the top for “Ask the front office” with pictures of Brad Casper, Lon Babby and Lance Blanks. It asks, “Are you wondering what the Suns’ vision is for the team moving forward?” and then provides space to e-mail a question. Perhaps Nash will use it.

* Kevin Love is the only NBA player in the top five of scoring and rebounds with averages of 24.5 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He gets to the free throw line for 8.6 attempts per game.

* Suns center Marcin Gortat ranks third in the NBA in field goal percentage and one of the players ahead of him is his nemesis tonight. Minnesota’s Nikola Pekovic, a 26-year-old second-year center, has made 57.7 percent of his shots.

* Rookie Ricky Rubio is fifth in the league for assists with 8.4 per game but has only averaged 4.0 points in his past three games. “El Ladron” also has 2.3 steals per game. Minnesota is 15-11 when he starts. This will be his first time facing Nash.

* Minnesota has the same winning percentage on the road as it does at home — .500.

* Tonight also marks the return of Terry Porter, a Minnesota assistant coach. Porter has not been back at US Airways Center since he was attending All-Star festivities on the weekend he was fired. A 28-23 record does not sound so bad any more. Different standards these days.

* The final word goes to Nash on whether he was soaking up the All-Star Weekend like it could be his final time there: “I wouldn’t put it past me to come back. I think I could very well be back. But if it’s the last, I had a blast and it’s been a great run coming to All-Star Weekend.”

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