By Anthony Caruso III
The Capital Sports Report
Owner/Managing Editor/Sr. Writer
Kevin Love is having a hard time to continue to carry the Timberwolves team.
He is leading the league in minutes played this season and has turned the Wolves around to be relevant again.
Love was forced to take a larger role in recent weeks when five of his teammates went down with injuries. Since that time, his numbers have started to slip.
The toll is also affecting him mentally and physically.
“It’s tough to try and play Superman every night,” said Love. “I don’t like to use that as an excuse (his teammates being injured), but I can feel it. My body and my legs, especially on my shot, they aren’t under me right now. With that said, that’s not an excuse on the defensive end for every single one of us.”
The Wolves have lost 12 out of the past 16 games since Ricky Rubio went down with an ACL injury on March 9th. They have lost four straight games.
In March, he averaged more than 30 points and 14 rebounds for the entire month. He became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring, rebounding, and 3-pointers for the month.
“I’ve felt my whole career I’ve been fighting an uphill battle, whether it’s been with (the media), coaches or players, system, no matter what. I like that. I embrace that,” said Love. “Now it’s a little bit of both, mentally and physically (draining).
“The minutes are definitely catching up, but we have 10 games left and I’m 23 years old so I’m not complaining about it. I’m just going to keep going out there and fighting. We just need to all-around have a better defensive effort.”