Flying Below the Radar

Two of the game's brightest young power forwards took the stage last night in Los Angeles as the Clippers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota's Kevin Love, the NBA's leading rebounder, entered the game with a league best 28 straight double-doubles while L.A.'s Blake Griffin, the early favorite for Rookie of the Year, had 27 straight himself and was coming off of a career high 47 points against Indiana on Monday night. Griffin saw his streak come to an end as he fell two rebounds short while scoring 29 and dishing out 6 assists, but his Clippers won in convincing fashion, 126-111. Kevin Love meanwhile was held without a rebound in the first half, but finished strong getting 11 second half rebounds to go along with 26 points in a losing effort. The last time Love didn't have a double-double was when he had a forgettable 0 point 7 rebound outing in 34 minutes against the Lakers on November 19th.

Here's how the two stack up statistically speaking with some of the league's other prominent power forwards:

Griffin - 22.7 ppg 12.6 rpg 3.4 apg 52.4% FG, 5/9 3PT, 60.9% FT, 33 double-doubles
Love   - 21.3 ppg 15.5 rpg 2.5 apg 46.6% FG, 44% 3PT, 87.4% FT, 38 double-doubles
Bosh   - 18.6 ppg 8.3 rpg 1.9 apg 50% FG, 5/16 3PT, 81.2% FT, 15 double-doubles
Gasol - 18.6 ppg 10.6 rpg 3.9 apg 51.6% FG, n/a 3PT, 82.5% FT, 25 double-doubles
Nowitzki - 23.5 ppg 7.3 rpg 2.5 apg 53.7% FG, 40% 3PT, 87.9% FT, 8 double-doubles
Randolph - 20.0 ppg 13.0 rpg 1.6 apg 48.9% FG, 3/21 3PT, 72.3% FT, 28 double-doubles
Stoudemire - 26.5 ppg 8.8 rpg 2.6 apg 50.6% FG, 8/15 3PT, 78% FT, 18 double-doubles

As you can see, they stack up pretty favorably, and with Griffin 21 and Love only 22 they are also the youngest on the list, AND they are currently #1 and #2 in the NBA in double doubles. Expect more great things from these two, and if you have the opportunity to watch a Clippers or a Wolves game... not sure when that will happen... definitely take advantage.