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Game previews:
Some players only get off the bench when a game is out of hand. Others get more opportunities, bumping up in the relative pecking order. If the seventh guy in your rotation is on the court with the eighth, ninth and 10th guys, he might feel like — and try to play like — a star.

A garbage-time star, that is.

“There are a lot of guys who will say, ‘Aw, we’re down 15 or 20,’ and they’ll hoist up some shots to try to get theirs,” Minnesota forward Kevin Love said. “Some guys — I take pride in this too — will try to get an offensive rebound, play defense, get defensive rebounds, take the right shots, hit the right guy … When you see a guy who’s not taking the right shot, it’s humorous sometimes. At the same time, it’s not funny.”

Rambis has started Damien Wilkins at small forward since Gomes went down with a high left ankle sprain on Dec. 12 at Sacramento. Gomes had started the Wolves’ first 24 games before the injury.

“I like the way we’re going right now,” Rambis said of staying with Wilkins.

Wilkins made his sixth consecutive start Friday night but struggled with two points on 1 for 9 shooting in 28 minutes. Gomes, who returned to the lineup for the Wolves’ Dec. 26 game against Washington, had seven points on 3 for 8 shooting in 20 minutes. His best game since returning was against Utah on Wednesday when he had 11 points and two rebounds in 21 minutes.

Wolves forward Kevin Love continues to wear that protective football lineman’s glove on his left hand, even though he says he doesn’t need to anymore.

“It’s going to be my trademark, actually, like Rip Hamilton’s mask,” Love said. “It feels comfortable, to be honest. It feels kind of weird when I take it off sometimes to shoot. I don’t need it, but I actually like it.”
Love said he will consider shooting without it over the February All-Star break and could emerge for the rest of the season without it.
On Friday, Brewer started his 34th game this season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He entered the night averaging 12.1 points and shooting 41.9 percent from the field, the best numbers of his pro career.

“My jump shot is starting to fall this year,” Brewer said. “It’s tough not being able to play for a year, because it kind of destroyed my development, but I think I’m getting back on track now.”

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis thinks Brewer has made “tremendous strides since training camp.”