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Love was injured less than three minutes into the game after he successfully took a charge from Hill, who fell hard on him.

Afterward, the Wolves officially called Love’s injury a “left lower-extremity contusion.”

That sounds like hockey talk, when the NHL uses those only silly “lower body” and “upper body” designations.

Love called it something else.

“I told the refs, `Hold on a second, I broke my butt cheek,’ ” he said.

He got his double-double anyway – his 11th straight and his 11th straight with at least 14 rebounds – with a 23-point, 16-rebound night he said he accomplished on just one good leg.

“The whole night I was playing on one leg,” he said. “I just had to use my leverage and my smarts to try to get shots and rebounds. I didn’t have any lift on my jumpers.”

X-rays were negative and Love vowed he’ll play Friday in Portland, his hometown.

He sat out the final 23 seconds after getting hit on that left butt cheek again.

“It hurt so bad,” he said.

Den Masters wrote:Lol.

I would have love to see Pekovic's reaction after Love said that.

Well, it's not every day you get a chance to ask Kevin Love a question like this, so I took full advantage Thursday after the Timberwolves held a quasi-practice in Portland in which Love did not participate.

So...other than cute, how's your butt cheek?

"It's good," he said. "It's a lot better than I thought it'd be. Everybody was saying, `You're going to wake up and it's going to be just way worse than the night before.' But I woke up and it's right where it was last night."

For Love, Friday's game against the Blazers is a return to his hometown.

He hasn't played a game here in Portland since his rookie season, and neither of those two games that season were much to speak of.

He missed both games last season because they were scheduled within days of each other when Love missed the season's first 18 games because of that broken hand.

"I'm playing," he said. "I'm definitely playing."