Kevin Love
Kevin Love recalls that he has started every single basketball game in his life except once — when he let Lorenzo Mata-Real take the floor in his place on senior night last season. However, on Wednesday night, he had to wait until there was 1 minute and 12 seconds left in the quarter to make his NBA debut.
It only took Love 13 seconds to score his first points in the NBA when he made a layup off a missed free throw by Craig Smith. “Well, we got the first one out of the way,” Love said. Prior to the game, he was very nervous but started to feel comfortable once he felt the fans cheering for him.
“It was nice having that crowd on my side,” Love said. “Hopefully they stay on my side, too. Nobody’s ever perfect. If it was easy, everyone would play. There’s going to be some growing pains, be times when I’m down. Hopefully people still got my back.”
The center from UCLA finished the game with 12 points and 9 rebounds in just under 19 minutes of play. His biggest play came when he drove for a crowd-pleasing, two-handed slam dunk that put Minnesota up 83-80.
“Any time you rebound like that — finish around the basket — it’s impressive,” Timberwolves guard Mike Miller said. “If he continues to bring that, we’re going to be really good.”