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Love lights up Cavs, helps T'Wolves halt skid

Dec 5, 2010 - 4:25 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Kevin Love scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half and the Minnesota Timberwolves built a large lead on the way to an easy 129-95 win over Cleveland.

Love also grabbed 19 rebounds and Wesley Johnson scored a career-high 20 points for the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak with their first win since November 17.

Minnesota set a franchise record with 18 three-pointers in the game, including five from Love, and led by as many as 40 points. Six players scored in double- digits.

"Everybody played. Everybody contributed," said Love, who was a perfect 5- for-5 from beyond the arc.

Cleveland, playing for the first time since being thumped by LeBron James and Miami on Thursday, got 18 points from Ramon Sessions and 17 from Antawn Jamison -- both in reserve roles.

The Cavaliers lost their third straight game and for the seventh time in their last nine.

It wasn't ever close.

"We're just playing bad basketball," said Jamison, who couldn't think of the last time Cleveland played well on both sides of the court. "It's going to get out of hand if we don't solve the problem and start playing the right ways."

The Timberwolves, behind 20 points from Love, shot 64 percent in the first half and carried a 73-54 lead into the locker room after scoring 37 in the first quarter and 36 in the second.

Setting a pattern, Cleveland got a lot of help from its bench in the first half -- Jamison scored 15 and Sessions had 12 -- but the Cavs shot just 39 percent as a team and trailed by as many as 25.

Minnesota extended its 19-point halftime lead to 36 twice in the third quarter, the first time after Wayne Ellington and Love hit back-to-back threes for a 98-62 game. Corey Brewer had a three later that made it 100-64, but Cleveland ended the frame on a 7-2 run to get within 102-71.

The Timberwolves' 40-point lead came at 2:33 of the fourth quarter when Ellington hit an 18-footer to make it 126-86. It was never that high again.

"We really kept it up in the second half. We just didn't let up," said Love.

Game Notes

The Timberwolves were 18-of-26 on three-pointers...Cleveland had a nine-game winning streak against Minnesota snapped dating back to the 2005-06 season...James had a big part of that run, of course, averaging more than 30 points in those victories.