MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Love landed hard on his hip after a foul late in the game. Kostas Antetokounmpo Jersey . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The win over the languishing Los Angeles Lakers was nice, too. Love had 31 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves to 109-99 victory on Tuesday that spoiled Steve Nashs return and stuck the Lakers with their seventh straight defeat. "I just want to continue to keep playing and give this team all that I can," Love said. "Yeah, Ive taken a physical beating, but youve got to expect being one of the top guys that theyre going to come at you." Kevin Martin helped the Timberwolves get off to a fast start, scoring 14 of his season-high-tying 32 points in the opening 10 minutes as the NBAs highest-scoring first-quarter team surged to a 25-point lead midway through the second period. They stumbled some after halftime, letting the Lakers pull within seven points early in the fourth quarter. "Its just one of those things where the game isnt going to be as easy as you think," coach Rick Adelman said. "You just have to persevere." With Nikola Pekovic likely out through the All-Star break, the Wolves started a difficult week, a theme of Adelmans pregame message. They play at Oklahoma City on Wednesday and New Orleans on Friday before hosting Portland on Saturday, a crucial stretch for a team running out of time to climb back into the playoff picture. But Love picked up the Wolves and carried them to an important win, playing the part of the burly Pekovic by throwing his body at the basket as often as he could. He made it to the line for 18 free throws, making 13. "We realize how good he is. He has incredible toughness," Martin said, adding: "He gets dirty down there. Thats why we pay him the big bucks and thats why hes an All-Star starter, to do things like that." Nash had been sidelined since Nov. 10 because of nerve problems in his back. The soon-to-be-40-year-old two-time league MVP had seven points and nine assists in 25 minutes, about 10 more than he was supposed to play. "I feel a bit selfish in that we lost but it felt great just to play in the NBA again," Nash said, smiling. "Obviously the game didnt go as we hoped, but for me personally thats pretty cool to be back out there." Coach Mike DAntoni was pleased. "I thought he competed, and weve got to have everybody compete that way," DAntoni said. Steve Blake also returned, coming back from a torn ligament in his right elbow that had shelved him since Dec. 10. He ruptured his eardrum during the game but kept playing on another night of bad luck and bad defence for the fallen franchise. Blake was scoreless in 31 minutes and took only two shots. Fittingly, as soon as two guys came back, two more went out. Jodie Meeks (sprained right ankle, first quarter) and backup Jordan Hill (headache and neck strain, first quarter) were hurt for the Lakers, who have been without star Kobe Bryant for most of the season. Pau Gasol also sat out with a strained right groin and could be out until after the All-Star break. DAntoni said Meeks wont play the rest of the road trip at Cleveland on Wednesday or at Philadelphia on Friday. Hill was walking stiffly in the locker room after the game but was held out as a precaution, the coach said. "I just feel for those guys. I just was in their position," Blake said. "Unfortunately its a part of the game, and the rest of us have to pick it up." The Lakers reserves had a whopping 70 points, with Nick Young (24 points), Manny Harris (17 points) and former Timberwolves first-round draft pick Wes Johnson (15 points and nine rebounds) leading the way. But the Lakers still lost for the 19th time in their last 22 games and fell into a tie for last place in the Western Conference with Utah and Sacramento. This was also their first loss at Target Center in almost seven years, ending an 11-game run. NOTES: This was the league-high seventh time this season that Love had at least 30 points and 15 rebounds. He has 25 for his career, one more than Kevin Garnett on the franchises career list. ... The Lakers have allowed 100-plus points in 15 straight games, their longest such streak since 17 in a row during the 1986-87 season. Dallas Mavericks Jersey . Nwaneri, who was born in Dallas and attended Naaman Forest High School in nearby Garland, Texas, tweeted, "Its official! Im coming home, Im coming home. Dennis Smith Jr. Jersey . -- ETwaun Moore had 14 points in 30 minutes, and the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 87-86 on Sunday night. http://www.officialmavericksfanstore.com/kids-dirk-nowitzki-mavericks-jersey/ . "Back in 2011, when they announced that the game was coming here, we knew that it was going to be pretty important that we had a good year and hopefully could get into it, let alone win it, so I felt some pressure obviously within for sure," Taman said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Riders won the championship.When the word finally came out that Japanese star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was being posted, I was convinced he would sign with the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees, with the LA Dodgers and Boston Red Sox being outside possibilities. Now if I had to make a wager, Id say the Seattle Mariners or Arizona Diamondbacks. Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports suggested the Diamondbacks might be willing to trade their former closer J.J. Putz to the Yankees for Ichiro Suzuki. Why, I wondered, would the Dbacks want a 40-year-old future Hall of Famer in the twilight of a great career? Then it hit me! What better way to convince Tanaka to sign with them than to offer him the chance to play with the greatest Japanese player of all time. But if its not just the money, Seattle is probably an even better choice for Tanaka. The Mariners have already shown a willingness to spend by luring free agent Robinson Cano away from the bright lights of New York and they already employ one of Tanakas best friends in baseball. Hisashi Iwakuma has quietly emerged as a star in Seattle the last two seasons. I say quietly because hell always be pitching in the shadow of "King Felix" Hernandez. In two years, though, hes put together a 23-11 record with a 2.84 ERA and 286 strikeouts. He made the American League all-star team last season but couldnt pitch in the mid-summer classic since he had made a start for Seattle on the Sunday, just before the Tuesday night game. He also finished third in Cy Young voting in the American League behind the Tigers Max Scherzer and the Rangers Yu Darvish. Tanaka and Iwakuma were teammates with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan from 2007 through 2011 and are reportedly good friends. Though Iwakuma put together a 107-69 record with a 2.75 ERA in Japan, he went through his share of adversities. In 2006, pitching motion rules were put into effect that forced Iwakuma to alter his delivery. In past, Japanese hurlers had been allowed to momentarily stop in mid-delivery before throwing to the plate. This was designed to throw off a hitters timing but now would simply be ruled a balk. Iwakuma changed, but altering his delivery led to shoulder problems and then elbow surgery that would cost him the bulk of two seasons. Iwakuma bounced back, though, and won the ERA title in 2008 as well as the Eiji Sawamura Award; the Major League equivalent of the Cy Young. Wesley Matthews Jersey. Even Iwakumas move to the Majors didnt go smoothly. Oakland won the bidding rights for him prior to the 2011 season. The sides couldnt come to terms on a contract, though, and Iwakuma wound up spending one more year in Japan before finally earning free agency at age 30 and signing with Seattle. Iwakuma will be 33 years old in April and would seem to be the perfect one to show Tanaka the ropes in the Majors. The only complication might be Iwakumas contract. He will be make $6.5 million with the Ms in 2014 and has a club option for $7 million in 2015. Tanaka could get close to twice that amount per season. That could be difficult for the Mariners to rationalize and explain to Iwakuma, whos already given them two very good seasons. Still, Ive got a feeling Seattle will find a way to get this done. The Tanaka negotiations must be completed by January 24 at 5:00 PM. Darvish took until the day before this deadline to sign with Texas. With spring training rapidly approaching, I can see this one getting done in the next week to ten days. Once Tanaka has a new home, it will only serve to intensify the bidding for free agents Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and maybe even Bronson Arroyo. The Class of 2014 inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on Wednesday at 2:00 PM. Im sticking with the same three selections I talked about months ago; Braves pitching legends Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and White Sox two-time MVP, Frank Thomas. I counted at least 10 other worthy Hall of Famers on this ballot, but thanks to PEDs and the sheer back-log of quality candidates, Im convinced only the aforementioned three will get in. As for Jack Morris, whos on the ballot for the 15th and final time, I dont care what his career ERA was; any man who was the staff ace on three World Series winners (84 Tigers, 91 Twins, 92 Blue Jays) belongs in the Hall of Fame - end of story. Check out Morriss numbers in 1992 with the Blue Jays at age 37. 240.2 innings pitched, 21-6 record, 4.04 ERA, six complete games and one shutout. Remember, the Blue Jays had Tom Henke and Duane Ward as the 1-2 punch in the pen. The onus wasnt on Morris to pitch that many innings or that many complete games. He just did, he was that good. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '