Kevin Love dropped 30pts and had 21rebs in the 117-100 win. (Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE)

Kevin Love racked up yet another 30-20 game finishing with 30 points and 21 rebounds as the Wolves moved up to just two and a half games out of the eight seed in the West. This is a key win for the Wolves as Denver sits two spots ahead of them and the loss for the Nuggets keeps them on the outside of the playoff bubble.

But the Wolves roared in their return to the Target Center and in front of a sold out crowd, much thanks to a free ticket bread promotion (oh how Minnesotan), with all but Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson and Malcolm Lee hitting double digit point totals on the day.

The game took a while to get a flow and that’s not the fault of the teams. Twice the game had to be stopped fue to a faulty shot clock that kept skipping to :04 seconds. After a second lengthy delay that was met by loud and annoyed boos by the sold out crowd, the shot clock was abandon — at least digitally and the PA announcer gave updates on how much time was left.

Even brining out the old school floor level shot clock didn’t work and it wasn’t until halftime that the technicians were able to come out and fix the clock for the second half.

But the Wolves didn’t wait for the shot clock to work to start draining buckets. Minnesota trailed briefly at the beginning of the game but soon blasted ahead, leading 68-43 at the half and never looking back. Minnesota never trailed again after being down early in the first to Denver.

Kevin Love had his third 20-20 game of the season and to any other player in the NBA it was a career night, but for Love it was business as usual.

“I think we used to call him kind of a poor man’s Larry Bird,” Denver coach George Karl said. “I think you can take ‘poor man’s’ off that comparison now. His ability to rebound is incredible and his offensive tools and skills are growing.”

But Love wasn’t the only contributor to the Wolves day. Luke Ridnour led the team in rebounds with six and threw down 25 on the day playing a majority of the game with both Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea both out. Rubio is done for the year with next year’s start on question, but Barea was a supposed healthy scratch after playing against the Thunder.

But it wasn’t a great day in every aspect for Minnesota. They got destroyed in the paint, losing the battle 64-38 and the fast break battle was even more lopsided. The Wolves scored just two fast break points but the Nuggets, largely behind the slam dunking efforts of Kenneth Faried, scored 29.

The Wolves are, for the first time since another guy named Kevin was in town, are looking at a serious playoff run. They came into the game 3 1/2 games behind the Nuggets and gained a game with the win. But with their spark plug in Rubi gone for the year, the weight falls entirely on Love again and the amount of minutes he sees will begin to take a toll.

“I worry about him all the time because he plays so many minutes,” head coach Rick Adelman said. “He seems to get through it pretty good.”

The Wolves are just 2 1/2 games behind the Nuggets, Rockets and Jazz for the eighth and seventh seeds with the Wolves owning a tie breaker over the Rockets.

With 16 games remaining for Minnesota, the crunch time is now and the time to make a serious push and not lose games is now. Minnesota can’t afford to drop the occasional game, especially now that they are within reach of a playoff spot. Denver, Houston and Utah are fighting just as hard for the same spots the Wolves are and people forget that the Suns are also ahead of the Wolves fighting for a spot.

Sunday’s performance was encouraging but the work isn’t anywhere near done.

Next Three Games:

3/27 – @Memphis

3/28 – @Charlotte

3/29 – Vs. Boston

The trade would send Steve Blake from the Lakers to the Blazers while the Blazers send Jamal Crawford to the Wolves with Michael Beasley heading to the Lakers. Los Angeles would give up one of it’s 2012 first round picks and use it’s $8.9 million trade exception to make it all happen.

“I’m just a pawn in this game,” Beasley told the Star Tribune earlier in the day on Wednesday. “L.A., Boston, New Jersey, Orlando, anywhere … I mean, if they decide to move me, then I’ve got to go. I’m not saying I want to, but it’s something I have no control over.”

One thing that is holding up the trade is the Lakers massive salary cap issues. Kobe Bryant’s massive contract is tying up a ton of money and contracts for Ron Artest and Luke Walton are not making things easier. One of these two would need to be moved or cut to make room for the Lakers.

Another draft of the trade involves Luke Ridnour moving to Portland and he could be added to the current deal that includes Beasley to shift Artest or Walton to another team.

jamal Crawford has been hot on the Wolves radar ever since they made a play for him in free agency. They got outbid by the Blazers and now that they know the price they have to pay, they’re comfortable absorbing his contract.

The trade is also aided by the fact Crawford is staging a mutiny in Portland after he was chewed out in a video session earlier this year. He has grown increasingly displeased with the situation in Portland and moving to Minnesota would allow him to contribute to a team that actually has a chance at making that playoffs. With Ricky Rubio out for the year the Wolves need another scoring option and Crawford adds much needed depth at shooting guard with Wes Johnson currently the only man on roster.

The trade is still in the works but as the deadline approaches, they talks will heat up fast.