Dallas Mavericks Topple Minnesota Timberwolves as Love Sets Record

The Dallas Mavericks were forced to play much of the game without Dirk Nowitzki last night. Foul trouble kept the star out of sync most of the night. He still scored 25 points, but was not the scoring threat that people have become accustomed to seeing. Help came from Brian Cardinal, who stepped up and scored 12 points to help the Mavericks stay ahead of the 'Wolves and win 108-105.

The Mavericks are in their usual spot before the playoffs. They are talented and are a serious threat to make a deep run in the playoffs. But history was made during the game by a member of the 50-loss Timberwolves. Kevin Love, the second-year player out of UCLA booked his 51st consecutive double-double, breaking the record that he shared with Moses Malone for the most since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976.

Love scored 23 points and added 17 rebounds in the losing effort. After the game he said that he was more focused on the team's performance than his individual accolades.

"I'd be jumping for joy if we were winning and everybody was playing great, including myself. I'm just going out there and playing hard and it is kind of happening for me. But it is kind of an afterthought because we aren't winning."

Love got some help last night from Michael Beasely, who scored 20 points and added 9 rebounds as the Timberwolves played with life against one of the Western Conference's best teams. They led 30-22 after the first quarter and had an 80-70 lead going into the fourth. The Mavericks took the lead briefly before getting down by two with a little over two minutes to play. The Mavericks finished strong though, closing out the Wolves even as Love put his name in the record books.