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Love guides Timberwolves past Wizards

Dec 28, 2013 - 5:17 AM Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Love had 25 points with 11 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves continued their home dominance over the Washington Wizards with a 120-98 win on Friday night.

The Timberwolves have taken 11-of-13 against Washington at Target Center and the Wizards haven't won in Minnesota since March 9, 2009, dropping their last four games there.

Love's frontcourt mate, Nikola Pekovic, also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

Every Minnesota starter scored in double figures with Kevin Martin netting 12 points, while Ricky Rubio and Corey Brewer scored 11 and 10, respectively, in the win.

John Wall led all scorers with 26 points to go along with seven assists, and Bradley Beal added 14 points before exiting the game late with an apparent left knee injury.

Trevor Ariza and Trevor Booker each chipped in with 10 points apiece for Washington, which finished its four-game road trip 3-1.

"We shot 49 percent," said Minnesota head coach Rick Adelman. "Especially after the start of the game we were in the 20's there for a while. It's just something we gotta keep working on now that this game is over we gotta figure it out tomorrow against Milwaukee."

Washington led 23-22 after the opening 12 minutes, but Minnesota essentially put the game away with a huge second quarter, outscoring the visitors 39-24 in the frame.

Martell Webster hit a jumper to open the scoring for Washington in the second and Pekovic scored five points during a 13-1 charge to help Minnesota to a 35-26 lead with just under eight minutes left.

The Wolves shot a blistering 60.9 percent from the field in the stanza to take a 61-47 lead at the half.

The lead swelled to 20 after Love buried a 3 at the 8:02 mark of the third and the Wizards couldn't cut the deficit to a manageable number as Minnesota cruised.

"They were tougher than we were," said Washington head coach Randy Wittman. "They pushed us around (and) we had no resistance."

Game Notes

Jose Juan Barea and Alexey Shved scored 17 and 13, respectively, off the bench for Minnesota ... Barea was 8-for-10 from the field ... Nene had 13 points off the pine for Washington ... Minnesota's largest lead was 24 ... The hosts committed just five turnovers ... The Wizards haven't won four straight away from home since the 2007-08 season.