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MINNEAPOLIS -- In a rare season of losing in Los Angeles, discombobulated Lakers fans have taken to dreaming about Kevin Love in purple and gold. They see him as the saviour, the young star they need to carry the franchise forward and help Kobe Bryant restore the teams pride. Is it a pipe dream or a real possibility? Its unlikely anyone will know until 2015, when Love can become a free agent and the Lakers will have money to throw at him. In the meantime, Love gave those suffering Lakers fans another performance to drool over. Love had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double and the Minnesota Timberwolves set a franchise record for points with a 143-107 victory over the Lakers on Friday night. "Everybody wants someone like that," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said before the game. "When youre talking about one of the best players in the league, yeah that makes sense." Nikola Pekovic scored 26 points on 9-for-10 shooting in his first game back from an ankle injury and Love hit three of five 3-pointers in just three quarters of work. Kevin Martin scored 17 points for the Wolves, who led by 19 points in the first quarter, 37 in the second and 40 in the third. Steve Nash made a surprise appearance for the Lakers, picking up four points and six assists in 14 minutes of just his 12th game of the season. It was about the only notable development for the Lakers, who lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, then allowed the Timberwolves to shoot 67.1 per cent, the highest any team in the league has shot in a game this season. "Terrible right now, man," Lakers guard Nick Young said. "Its a bad feeling." Love put on a clinic during a masterful first quarter, scoring 15 points, hitting two of three 3-pointers, grabbing five rebounds and dishing four assists. He threw one of his trademark 60-foot outlet passes to Kevin Martin for a layup, threw down a dunk, hit a 3 and finished a fast break during a 20-3 run that gave Minnesota a 26-7 lead. He grabbed his 10th rebound of the game just before the third-quarter buzzer, and his teammates leaped off the bench and cheered his achievement. "Even with the team they have now, its still nice to be a team thats been a heavyweight for a very long time," Love said of the Lakers. It was the quintessential Love performance -- versatile and punishing from inside and out, unselfish and relentless. And it is everything the Lakers are missing right now. Kobe Bryant has missed most of the season with injuries, Nash is on his last legs and the Lakers are desperate for a star to carry them forward when Bryant, who will start a new two-year contract next season, decides to retire. Love went to UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers in the 1970s. Love can opt out of his contract after next season, at which point the Lakers will have enough cap room to sign him to a maximum contract. The Timberwolves remain confident that they will be able to do enough this off-season to upgrade the roster to convince Love, who has not been to the playoffs in his six seasons, to stay. President of basketball operations Flip Saunders has told teams calling about trading for Love to not even bother asking. The Wolves can also pay him about $26.5 million more than any other team. "My parents lived there and they had me there, so its not my fault," Love said of the fascination with him in Los Angeles. "I dont really care about that right now. I just go out there and play and dont really worry about it." DAntoni coached Love with Team USA, so hes well versed in his abilities. "He was a big piece in what we were doing and obviously hes a big piece here," DAntoni said. "Guys a good player. Wherever he goes, hes going to be good." NOTES: Kent Bazemore scored 21 points and Jodie Meeks scored 19 for the Lakers. ... The Timberwolves topped 40 points in the first quarter for the fifth time this season. ... Xavier Henry sat out for the Lakers with a sore knee. ... Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio had 10 points, six assists, six rebounds and one steal, which tied Tyrone Corbins franchise for steals in a season with 175. Packers Jerseys .J. - Several people have collapsed in an overcrowded New Jersey train station while waiting in long lines to get to the Super Bowl. DeShone Kizer Packers Jersey .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. http://www.officialpackersteamgears.com/jaire-alexander-jersey/ .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. Jaire Alexander Packers Jersey . Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed. Muhammad Wilkerson Packers Jersey . Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night.HOUSTON -- Houston manager Bo Porter knows that many question why he keeps penciling Chris Carter into the lineup game after game when the designated hitter is batting below .200. Carter illustrated perfectly Wednesday night why Porter sticks with him. Carter homered twice, Dallas Keuchel pitched eight strong innings and the Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1. Carters first solo home run made it 3-1 in the fourth inning, and he added an opposite-field shot in the seventh. It was the fifth career multihomer game for Carter and second this year. The slugger has struggled this season and is batting just .199, but his power is undeniable and hes tied for the team lead with 12 homers. "Hes been up and down this year," Porter said. "The power numbers are there. The batting average is not there, but at the same time hes had some big hits and tonight is a step in a huge direction to him getting going." Carter led the Astros with 29 homers and 82 RBIs last year in his first full season in the majors. He feels less pressure at the plate now that the lineup has been beefed up with the addition of rookies Jon Singleton and George Springer. "Its nice to have guys like that where you dont feel like youre the only guy in the lineup where you have to do everything or everyone is looking to you to get a home run or something," Carter said. Keuchel (8-3) won for the sixth time in seven starts. He allowed four hits and a run, striking out five and lowering his ERA to 2.38. Even though the game is more than a month away, Porter was already stumping for Keuchel to get the All-Star call. "You look at the season Dallas Keuchel has put together to this point and if hes not an All-Star, what is? He continues to impress," Porter said. "Its a joy to watch." Brandon McCarthy (1-9) allowed eight hits and four runs in six-plus innings to remain winless since May 3. "I wasnt sharp from the get-go, but I thought I did a good job to get as deep as I could," McCarthy said. "The seventh inning thhere.ddddddddddddThe home run hurts and the guys getting on after that hurts and kind of spoils everything." Aaron Hill homered in the fourth for Arizonas only extra-base hit. Springer had two hits and an RBI and Singleton drove in a run as the Astros won for the fifth time in seven games. McCarthy has had success in Houston in the past and entered the game 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his career at Minute Maid Park. But the Astros got going against him early, with Springer singling in the first, Singleton drawing a walk and Jason Castro grounding an RBI single. Singleton was thrown out at third on the play. Jonathan Villar singled to start Houstons third before a one-out single by Springer. Both players advanced on a wild pitch by McCarthy before Villar scored on a groundout by Singleton to make it 2-0. The Diamondbacks didnt get a hit until Hill led off the fourth with his homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field to cut the lead to 2-1. Paul Goldschmidt singled after Hills homer, but Keuchel got back on track after that and retired 13 of his next 14 batters. The only hit in that span came on a single by Chris Owings with one out in the sixth inning. Ender Inciarte singled with two outs in the Arizona eighth, but Keuchel retired Owings to end the inning and Keuchels night. Springer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. NOTES: The series wraps up on Thursday when Arizonas Wade Miley opposes Scott Feldman. ... Houston 2B Jose Altuve missed his first game of the season because of soreness in his oblique muscle. Porter said Altuve didnt want to take the day off and tried to convince him to let him play. ... Diamondbacks OF Gerardo Parra was out of the lineup for a scheduled day off. ... The Astros signed several players taken in last weeks draft. They signed second round pick 1B A.J. Reed, RHP Ryan Thompson (23rd round), RHP Vince Wheeland (24th round), LHP Zach Davis (25th round), INF Mott Hyde (26th round), RHP Brandon McNitt (27th round) and RHP Keegan Yuhl (35th round). 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