Wolves record: 11-38
In the first meeting, the Knicks raced out to a 15-0 lead and 40-point first quarter for a dominating victory in New York. On Sunday night, the Wolves held the offensive-minded Knicks to just 44 in the first half. Controlling the tempo and a career-high 25 points from Kevin Love also helped Minnesota exact revenge in a 112-91 victory at the Target Center.

“Overall our guys did a really good job, they kept playing hard, the Knicks made some runs and they just kept playing hard,” head coach Kurt Rambis said.

The hometown fans started to grimace when New York put together a 16-6 run to start the first period. After the Wolves fell behind by 15 points, Rambis called a timeout and the team responded, scoring 16 of the next 20 points of the quarter.

Jefferson scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and Love led Minnesota’s bench with a season-high 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting. While Love has started most of the games for which he has been healthy this year, the recent play of Ryan Hollins has made Love the go-to man off the bench.

“They have some strong guys inside,” David Lee said. “Al Jefferson, of course, is a beast down there. And Hollins has had a good couple last games. His length gave us some trouble. Then they come off the bench with Kevin Love, who would be a starter on two-thirds of the teams in this league.”

On Friday night against the Clippers, Hollins match his career high with 20 points. Sunday, he gave Minnesota three blocks and 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

Hollins made six of eight shots inside against the Knicks, giving the Wolves a three-man scoring unit in the paint that overwhelmed a Knicks team that plays 6-9 David Lee at center. Hollins’ emergence, along with Love’s strength off the bench, means that a typical gameplan against the Wolves — double-team Jefferson and force his teammates to make shots — suddenly isn’t a lock.

“They take the pressure off me. I can do other things — rebound, get some assists,” Jefferson said. “In the first half, teams are double-teaming me, and they give [Love and Hollins] opportunities to score. So teams move off me, and that frees me up.”