MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Love worked all summer long to put an injury plagued season behind him and reclaim his spot as the best power forward in the league. LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers is one of the players standing in his way. In their first head-to-head matchup of the season, Love pounced on a road-weary Aldridge and grabbed Round 1. Love had 29 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to outshine Aldridge in the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-109 victory over Portland on Wednesday night. "Awesome," Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio said. "Theres no words to describe. Hes doing a great job leading this team in scoring, rebounding, even assisting. Hes taking my job." Nikola Pekovic had 30 points and nine rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 22 for the Timberwolves, who led by 32 in the second quarter and held off a charge in the second half from the Blazers. Damian Lillard had 36 points, six assists and six rebounds and Aldridge had 15 points and 14 boards for the weary Trail Blazers, who lost for the first time in six games. It was just their fifth loss of the season in 27 games and came at the end of a four-game road trip. The Timberwolves outscored Portland 72-34 in the paint and shot 49.5 per cent from the field. Aldridge, one of the early leaders in the MVP race thanks to Portlands remarkable start, made just 7 of 22 shots. "Just one of those nights," Aldridge said. "I couldnt throw a rock in a lake if I tried to, even if I was standing in the water." The Blazers have been the most surprising team of this young season, and they stormed into Target Center fresh off two straight heart-pounding victories on last-second shots by Lillard that gave them the best record in the NBA. But playing their fourth road game in five nights, their legs were heavy, their shots where shaky and the Wolves pounced. Love owned the first 24 minutes. He had a double-double before the game was 13 minutes old and went into halftime with 17 points, 11 boards and eight assists. The Wolves rode a staggering 42-12 run through the second quarter to take a 62-30 lead five minutes before the break. He started fast breaks, he hit deep 3s and he went to the floor for loose balls, setting the tone and building a cushion that they sorely needed as the game wore on. But he still ended up one assist shy of his first career triple-double. "I did think I was looking at it right in the face tonight, but it didnt happen for me," Love said. "Guys kept saying just get one more. I just said lets get a ... win. How about that? Im way more happy with that more than anything." Portland coach Terry Stotts said he considered pulling the plug after the third and resting his starters. But these are the Blazers, who shoot 3s without conscience and play with a swagger generated by their cold-blooded point guard. And theyre never out of a game. Lillard scored 17 points in the third, and his step-back 3 brought Portland to 86-75 with 2:04 to play in the quarter. "Two things, one is you dont know when to pull a plug on a game like this, and two with our team, with our ability to shoot, you just dont know," Stotts said. Martin, who missed Monday nights game in Boston with a sore left knee, responded with a 3 and J.J. Barea hit two big 3s in the closing seconds of the quarter to push the lead back to 22. Lillard hit two 3s and Nicolas Batum, who scored 20 points, scored on a putback and a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five with 46 seconds to play, but the Wolves closed it out at the free-throw line. "You know last year, that probably wouldve been a game where we just said all right were going to give it a shot in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter we probably wouldve ended up laying down," Lillard said. "But we fought back, and I think with a minute and a half it was a game." NOTES: The Wolves announced that F Chase Budinger has been cleared for full-contact practice. Budinger has yet to play this year after having surgery to remove part of the meniscus in his left knee. ... It was the third career 30-point game for Pekovic. ... Lillard went 7 for 14 from 3, while the rest of the team went 7 for 26. . Hossa, who led the Blackhawks with 77 points last season, was knocked out and suffered a concussion when the Coyotes Raffi Torres left his feet to deliver the high, hard blow in the first period of the game on April 17. [url=http://www.officialmlbonline.net/Toronto-Blue-Jays-Cyber-Monday-Jose-Bautis... Bautista Black Jersey . Playing for the first time in two years at the season-ending tournament, Nadal traded breaks early but then became untouchable on serve, dictating the play from the baseline and forcing third-ranked Ferrer into a stack of errors. . Canada finished second in its semifinal with a time of five minutes 32.37 seconds, guaranteeing a top-six finish. The top seven boats earn a berth in the London Games. [url=http://www.officialmlbonline.net/Washington-Nationals-Cyber-Monday-Stephen-... Strasburg Cream Jersey . Smith chose to go for it on fourth and inches from his own 29-yard line in overtime this past Sunday in a crucial division match up with New Orleans.CHICAGO -- Once again, Raffi Torres is making news for all the wrong reasons. The hard-nosed Vancouver forward was penalized for a questionable hit on Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook in the Canucks 3-2 playoff win over the Blackhawks on Sunday. It was Torres first game back from a four-game suspension for a blindside hit on Edmontons Jordan Eberle. He wasted no time getting in hot water again, hammering Seabrook behind the Chicago net in the second period with a hit to the defencemans head. Seabrook was visibly shaking when he returned to the bench and left for part of the second period, but returned to finish the game. Torres was assessed a two-minute interference penalty on the play, a call which incensed Chicago coach Joel Quenneville. "Brutal. Major. Absolutely," Quenneville said after the Blackhawks lost to fall behind 3-0 in the series. "(The referees) missed it. We could have scored four goals on that (power play). Is it a suspension? I dont have to worry about that.dddddddddddd. The guy didnt even get through his first game back off one. Its not my call." The play could have really cost the Canucks. With Torres in the penalty box, Patrick Sharp took a pass from Jonathan Toews and scored on the Blackhawks fifth power play to tie the game 2-2. "His reputation speaks for itself," Toews said of Torres. "Hes not just going in to make a play. Hes trying to hurt one of our players. To us, thats pretty obvious." Seabrook was less damning in his assessment of the hit, but says he does expect the NHL to take a look. "I havent seen the hit so I dont want to comment on it," Seabrook said. "He plays hard. Hes been in trouble with the league before and (hes) doing the same kind of thing." Canucks coach Alain Vigneault defended Torres, saying "I didnt think it was a penalty, but at the end of the day, thats me." cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '