MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Love has always been able to pile up the points and the rebounds at a rate that few in the NBA can match. Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Love had 32 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 116-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Six of Loves assists came in a sensational first quarter, and he connected with Corey Brewer on three length-of-the-court outlets to get the Timberwolves offence rolling. "The guy can throw a chest pass 100 yards," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He should be an NFL quarterback and he can throw chest passes to the receivers." Kevin Martin added 32 points and five rebounds and Corey Brewer scored 17 points to help the Timberwolves snap a two-game skid. "Eight assists, I think, was great," Love said. "Guys were just cutting and I was leading them, whether it was in the half court or hitting them on the fast break." Jose Calderon made 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Mavericks. Monta Ellis scored 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 14 for Dallas. The Mavericks played without trusted reserve Vince Carter, who was suspended for the game for elbowing Oklahoma Citys Steven Adams on Wednesday. The Wolves led by 11 in the third and eight with less than 4:30 to play, and had to hold their breath down the stretch. Calderon hit his sixth 3 of the night and Ellis scored on a drive to the bucket to make it 105-102 Minnesota with 2:24 to go. Love, who just missed his first triple-double of his career, hit a 3 on the other end, Ricky Rubio foiled Elliss drive to the basket and Love sealed it with a 17-foot Nowitzki-style fade-away on the baseline with 1:13 to play. "Thats why he gets paid the big bucks," coach Rick Adelman said. Nikola Pekovic had 15 points and six rebounds for Minnesota. Jae Crowder had 10 points and six rebounds for Dallas. The new-look Mavericks have been one of the best offensive teams in the league, with Ellis and Calderon making a seamless transition and flourishing as role players surrounding Nowitzki. Ellis has been remarkably efficient in comparison to his volume shooting ways with the Warriors and Bucks, entering the game shooting 55 per cent on 2-pointers. That efficiency wasnt there on Friday night as Ellis needed 24 shots to score 23 points. "We couldnt get a stop," Calderon said. "But it wasnt just the last three or four minutes, it was kind of the full fourth quarter we were just trading baskets with them. We couldnt get two in a row or three in a row." The Wolves appeared to be taking control midway through the third quarter with a 16-4 surge that put them in front by 11. But the Mavericks came right back, getting two 3s from Calderon and another from Ellis during a 13-3 run that cut the deficit to one point. For much of the game, Love was the Timberwolves best passer, even with Rubio on the floor. He hit Brewer for several home run passes and racked up six assists in an outstanding first quarter. He also had nine points and six rebounds in the period. Rubio had six points on 2-for-8 shooting and four assists and he was bottled up for most of the night by Spanish countrymen Calderon, who didnt fall for the sleight of hand that Rubio uses to keep defenders off balance. Calderon also had seven assists and four rebounds. "Things didnt go our way tonight," Crowder said. "I dont think it was too much what they were doing. We knew exactly what they were going to do. Of course their offence was rolling tonight, and we didnt get stops when we need to." NOTES: Carter said at shootaround that he wished he could take the elbow to Adams back, but couldnt and felt bad for putting his team in the position of not having him available for the game. ... Timberwolves F Derrick Williams did not play because of back spasms. ... Robbie Hummel made his NBA debut for the Timberwolves, scoring two points in 11 minutes. Mattias Ekholm Jersey . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. Kyle Turris Jersey . -- The Atlanta Braves are facing the possibility of losing another pitcher for the season after general manager Frank Wren said Saturday that Cory Gearrin has a serious injury to his right elbow. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/. Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed on Sunday that his starting goalie has a head injury and the team will take it day by day. Colton Sissons Jersey . - The Denver Broncos kept rookie wide receiver Tavarres King from joining the Green Bay Packers by promoting him to their active roster Tuesday. Craig Smith Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario.It was just before the 2008 World Championships in Halifax and Team USA was holding a pre-tournament camp in Portland, Maine. Jeff Halpern, serving as the American captain, was informing and inviting teammates to a fishing trip off the coast of Maine, in a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean. He wondered if Phil Kessel, then a 20-year-old playing for the Boston Bruins, wanted to come along. I get seasick in the bathtub, Kessel said, according to a later recounting by his future boss in Toronto, Brian Burke. I guess thats a no, Halpern responded. No, Kessel said, if the guys are going Im going. So he went, puked his guts out, but did it because was a team function, Burke beamed proudly on the day Kessel was officially traded to the Maple Leafs, defending the character of his newest asset, one that came with a high price ultimately. More than six long years later, Burke long since deposed as the teams president and general manager, and many of those same questions still surround Kessel, now 27-years-old and the highest-paid player in Toronto. Can the Leafs win a Cup with Kessel at the forefront? And if not, which seems to be case, then what should Brendan Shanahan and a revamped management group do about it? What can they do about it? Kessel remains under contract until 2022 at an annual cap hit of $8 million or more than 11 percent of the current cap. Is a player with that contract and those attributes tradable? And if so, then how tradable? What kind of market would exist for such a unique talent and personality? What kind of return would a player like Kessel net in a climate thats become increasingly wise to the functions of team success? Do the negatives of Kessels game outweigh the positives? Are the Leafs better in the long-term by trading by far their most talented player? Does that put them on the right path toward chasing a Cup? These are only some of the questions facing Shanahan as it pertains to the face of Torontos franchise, a player whos scored more goals than anyone but Alexander Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos since the start of the 2011-12 season, more points than anyone but Claude Giroux and Evgeni Malkin. I just want to help the team win here, Kessel said on the day he was first introduced as a Leaf. Thats the main goal here. Its not individual goals, its me coming in here doing whatever I can to help the organization and the team win hockey games. What wasnt in doubt then or now is the quality of those offensive gifts. Kessel remains one of the most dangerous and feared players in the league with a shot that may be unequaled in terms of the quickness with which it launches off the stick. Kessel, who has had a blasé kind of year, still sits around the top-10 in league scoring and remains on pace to either match or set new career-highs in a slew of offensive categories. Hes had several great years, Burkes replacement, Dave Nonis, said after re-signing Kessel for eight years and $64 million on the eve of last season. If you look at his point totals and his goal totals over the last two and three seasons hes up there with some pretty elite players. But for all the mesmerizing things Kessel can do on the ice, he detracts just about as much. Hes prone to bits of laziness – both on and off the ice – lacks noticeable effort in his own zone and often ends up costing his team more goals than he scores. Kessel and his two regular linemates, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, have been the Leafs worst possession trio this season. They are consistently and unnervingly hemmed in the defensive zone for extended periods. Its not a new issue either, its one that dates back to the days of Ron Wilson, Kessels first coach in Toronto. Phils problem, said Wilson during an interview with TSN Radio on Tuesday, hes two weeks on and two weeks off and you just hope that you can get him playing his best hockey for as long as possible.dddddddddddd You cant rely on Phil. Its just the way it is. You have to know that Phil is going to give you everything hes got for two or three weeks and then for the next two or three weeks everything seems to go wrong for Phil. Thats just the way it is. The Leafs signed Kessel for the long haul under the premise, seemingly, that his potent production would be impossible to replace. But that assumes that the good outweighs the bad and that may not be the case, especially if Kessel assumes the role of the teams best and highest-paid player. It also ignores the grander question of whether Kessel can help a team achieve the ultimate goal of winning a Cup. Boston, facing cap troubles in the fall of 2009, decided not. They pulled the trigger to move Kessel after he scored 36 goals as a 21-year-old. They won their Cup two years later. Claude Julien, Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle, they all tried to change Kessel into something he was not, to mold him into a piece of a winning product. They could not. Whats to suggest then that something will change under the next head coach in Toronto? You never change a leopards spots, Wilson said. I think you paint over some of those spots, but theyll eventually shine through the paint and thats just too bad. Kessel is an incredibly capable and gifted player and he could probably be a piece on a winning team, just not the piece. Could he play the Patrick Kane role on a deeper team? Perhaps and perhaps thats the type of team willing to spring for his talents. Beyond just the burdensome decision of even trading Kessel is the potential return. What kind of value does Kessel have in a trade with the amount of money hes owed and the questions surrounding his performance and personality? How many teams would even be interested? And for a team like Toronto, one thats not contending for a Cup anytime soon, what kind of risk is there in hanging on to Kessel as he nears and then surpasses age 30, when the gifts that make him such a special talent start to wither if even a little? Kessel is the biggest piece of a web that needs to be untangled. The Leafs have too many flawed players locked up for too long, a core thats proven barely good enough to qualify for the playoffs, let alone win a Cup. Kessel is not the only problem – far from it – and on a different team he may not be a problem at all, but he also may not be part of the solution either, especially as the leading act. Is it worth sacrificing his tremendous gifts, though, for the betterment of the team in the long-term? These are really difficult questions. Moving on from Kessel is not a simple decision. Not many players, simply put, can do what he does. The Leafs would be worse, far worse really, without Kessel in the short-term. But theyve also been a badly flawed team with him at the forefront and that seems unlikely to change anytime soon. Kessel, ultimately, is the elephant in the room that Shanahan and the teams front office will have to confront one day, if they havent already. Moving on from the player, personality, and contract is a decision they probably should make given the bleak history of his time in Toronto as the front man, but its certainly no easy choice. This whole job is a high-wire act without a net, said Burke, Shanahans predecessor as team president, on the day Kessel was introduced. Every deal we make were betting on a human being, were betting on Phil, taking a chance. Thats how it works. I dont think were taking much of a chance. 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