Still, the Timberwolves’ second-year forward is closer to coming back from the broken left hand that scratched Love from his 13th game Saturday night.

X-rays on Friday in the Twin Cities revealed the bone is healing properly. Another evaluation is scheduled in two weeks, with Love cautiously targeting mid-December for his 2009-10 debut.

“Hopefully, the bone is fully healed then and I won’t miss a beat,” Love said after participating in the Wolves’ morning shootaround.

Wolves rookie Jonny Flynn played — and started — his 13th NBA game on Saturday at the Rose Garden. Somebody asked him what he considered his “Welcome to the NBA” moment so far.

His answer: A collision with Boston’s Kevin Garnett in the season’s fifth game.

“He just stood over me, like, ‘Well, get up,'” Flynn said. “When he did that to me, it put me back in reality that this isn’t going to be easy.”

Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on Craig Smith:

Smith is back in the city where he was raised after going to school at Boston College and playing three NBA seasons in Minnesota.

“I was real excited, but it was unfortunate to see me and Bassy [Telfair] leave Minnesota,” he said. “I have a lot of good memories there: teammates, the whole organization. But this is the next thing. It would have been one thing if I went to Memphis or something, but I ended coming home, so that’s really good.”

The Timberwolves, who have lost 11 straight games and are 1-11, remain in the running for most losses by a team in a season in NBA history (Philadelphia 76ers, 9-73) as well as most losses in a row in a single season (23 by Denver in 1997-98 and Vancouver in 1995-96).