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London Olympics 2012: Timberwolves' Kevin Love Is Putting Up Numbers For Team USA

The Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love has been performing admirably with Team USA at the Olympics in London. Much like with the Wolves, he's been doing the dirty work under the basket while also scoring extremely efficiently.

But were you aware just how good he has been? ESPN's Tom Haberstroh has looked at the numbers and has found that being the third-leading scorer on the team doesn't quite tell the whole story (Insider):

On a per-minute basis in the Olympics, Love has scored about as often as Durant (29.3 points vs. 29.9 points per 40 minutes). He has scored more often than Bryant (28.5 points) and almost as much as James and Chris Paul combined (31.6). Overall, Love has tallied 29.3 points and 16.9 rebounds per 40 minutes in Olympic play, not to mention he's shooting 42 percent from downtown and 80 percent elsewhere. Further, he's coughed up the ball just twice in 102 minutes of playing time.

Haberstroh does note Love's obvious defensive efficiencies, which these numbers don't take into account. While defense may be the reason Tyson Chandler remains ahead of him in the big man rotation, his offense and rebounding deserve recognition.

Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.