PORTAND, Ore. -- Everyone it seems was talking about the showdown between Portlands LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesotas Kevin Love. Except Aldridge and Love. "All he kept saying was All I care about is the win," teammate Mo Williams said of Aldridge. "Much ado about nothing," Love countered. In the end, Aldridge had 21 points to help the Trail Blazers down the Timberwolves 115-104 on Saturday night. Love, coming off a back-to-back, had 15 points and 13 rebounds. "We didnt both particularly have a great game," Love said. "Other people stepped up on both of our teams -- but he came away with the win." It was the Trail Blazers 33rd win -- matching their total from all of last season. Aldridge hit a long jumper and drew a foul to give the Blazers a 100-88 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Damian Lillards 3-pointer pushed the lead to 105-88 and Minnesota could never catch up. Aldridge is 12-3 in head-to-heads with Love. Kevin Martin led the Timberwolves with 30 points, while Nikola Pekovic had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Love, named Thursday as an Western Conference All-Star starter, went into the game against the Blazers averaging 25 points and 13 rebounds, but some Portland fans and players felt Aldridge -- averaging 24.7 points and 11.6 rebounds -- deserved the starting nod because of his role in the teams success this season. Aldridge scored a career-high 44 points and had 13 rebounds following the All-Star announcement in Portlands come-from-behind victory at home over Denver on Thursday night. Afterward he said he "definitely" thought he should have made it. The 6-foot-11 seventh-year veteran can still make the team as a reserve -- as he has for the past two seasons -- when the coaches selections are announced later this month. Love is a first-time All-Star starter after leap-frogging Houston Rockets centre Dwight Howard in the final fan balloting. "I think its a little sweeter this way because I really didnt expect it," he said following the announcement. Earlier this season, Love had 29 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in Minnesotas 120-109 home victory over the Blazers on Dec. 18. Love said his knees felt the previous nights 121-120 victory at Golden State all through the game against Portland. "Last night I took a pretty bad hit from Harrison Barnes and every time I sat down during the game my knees stiffened up a little." Aldridge, who had his 11th straight game with 20 or more points, also cited some fatigue. "I thought both guys competed," he said of the matchup. "I was a little tired and I thought he was tired on the second night of a back-to-back." While fans were expecting Aldridge to come out and make a statement, teammate Nicolas Batum quickly tallied 11 points and five rebounds in the first quarter. Love had 10 points to lead Minnesota, which finished the first leading 29-27. The Blazers then took off on a 16-4 run, capped by Thomas Robinsons fast-break dunk, to take a 43-33 lead. Williams, who finished with 16 points off the bench, had 10 points in the spurt. Portland led 65-57 at the break. Three straight dunks from Pekovic -- off feeds from Ricky Rubio -- tied the game at 73 midway through the third quarter. But the Timberwolves didnt pull ahead until Martins 3-pointer made it 79-78 with 3:50 left in the period. The Blazers answered by finishing out the quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 87-81. Portland pushed its lead to 95-86 on consecutive jumpers from rookie C.J. McCollum. The Blazers outscored the Timberwolves 60-46 in the paint, and Portlands bench outscored Minnesotas 34-15. "The second half we just ran out of gas," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "I noticed it. We made runs at them, we caught them in the third quarter, but they kept having one more run." NOTES: Love is from Oregon and played for Lake Oswego High School just south of Portland. ... Rubio left Friday nights win over the Warriors with a sprained left ankle in the fourth quarter. He was questionable against the Blazers but started. ... With his first rebound, Aldridge joined Love as the first players in the league this season to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. ... Rubio finished with 11 assists. Custom USA Soccer Jerseys ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. Graham Zusi Jersey . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. http://www.usasoccerauthority.com/tim-howard-usa-jersey/. He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep. Nick Rimando Jersey . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. USA Soccer Jerseys .Two San Francisco radio stations say they wont play the song during the duration of the World Series. A Kansas City, Missouri, station responded with plans to play the Grammy-winning track every hour from 7 a.INDIANAPOLIS -- Sixteen fights into his UFC career, Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann has 11 wins and a few regrets. In October 2010, he flubbed a chance to fight for the welterweight championship when the Danish-born 170-pounder opted to take on Jake Shields at his own game -- on the ground. Shields went on to win a split decision. Last time out, Kampmann (20-6) stepped into the cage against top contender Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks with his head not on straight. Issues outside of training weighed on his mind. Hendricks knocked him out in 46 seconds. On Wednesday, sixth-ranked Kampmann has another chance to rise up the welterweight ranks when he takes on No. 2 Carlos (The Natural Born Killer) Condit in the main event of a televised UFC card in Indianapolis. "I think I still have a lot left to prove," Kampmann said. "The UFC hasnt seen the best of me, at all. So thats what I intend to show." The bookmakers see Condit (28-7) as more than a 2-1 favourite. "I love to prove the oddsmakers wrong," said Kampmann. "Ive done that countless times before and Id love to do it again on Wednesday." The winner could find himself in the title mix once the dust settles from UFC 167 in November, when Montreals Georges St-Pierre defends his crown against Hendricks and No. 3 Rory (Ares) MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who trains out of Montreal, takes on No. 9 (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler. "Ill be happy to fight either St-Pierre or Hendricks," said Kampmann, who now calls Las Vegas home. "Of course Id love to get a chance to avenge a loss and fight Hendricks again. Id also like to fight GSP since hes the top guy in the division, hes been champion for so long." Both Condit, 29, and Kampmann, 31, have plenty of weapons. Physically the six-foot-two Condit has an edge in height and reach over the six-foot Kampmann. But both fighters didnt come much further than seven-foot-two Roy Hibberts shoulder when the Indiana Pacers centre, an MMA fan, dropped in on the fighter workouts Wednesday. "I think were both very well-rounded and were able to finish the fight wherever the fight goes," said Kampmann. "We both like to go for the finish and that makes a great recipe for a good fight," he added. Both fighters are known for their resolve and refusal to break. MacDonald took it to Condit for the first two rounds when they met at UFC 115 in Vancouver in June 2010, only for Condit to rally in the third and put the young Canadian away. In 2012, Kampmann was in trouble against both Jake (The Juggernaut) Ellenberger and Thiago (Pitbull) Alves before turning the fight around to win by TKO and submission, respectively. Both men are prickly on their feet with sharp striking and powerful knees. Condit has the more dangerous kicks and is likely to pull something unorthodox and nasty out of his bag of tricks. Just ask Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy and Dong Hyun (Stun Gun) Kim. Both can finish you via submissions with St-Pierre noting that Condit is especially tricky on his back, baiting his opponent into a position he can then take advantage of. Condit is susceptible to the takedown. Hendricks and St-Pierre combined to take him down 19 times in his last two fights. But Hendricks is a former NCAA wrestling champion and GSP is the UFCs most effective takedown artist. Kampmann won a split decision when the two first met in April 2009 in the UFC debut for Condit, a former WEC champion. The Dane took Condit down five times in that fight but he only managed five takedowns in his next nine fights. "Thats a long time ago, but it was a tough fight," said Kampmann. "I remember I was getting pretty tired in the second round but in the third roundd I got a second wind.dddddddddddd The first two rounds were pretty close but the third round, I think I won it decisively and I think thats the reason I got the decision win." Kampmann has gone 5-4 since, with the Hendricks defeat snapping a three-fight winning streak. Condit is 5-2 since the Kampmann defeat thanks to the recent Hendricks and St-Pierre losses. Kampmann rues the loss to Hendricks, mainly because he didnt get a chance to show any of his skills. FightMetric, which tracks UFC bouts, had Kampmann at zero significant strikes. Hendricks had three, which including a thundering left that put Kampmann down and another to the chin as he lay prone. "I didnt show up mentally for that fight," Kampmann said "I was there but I wasnt there and I paid dearly for it. You cant go in and not be mentally ready in a fight like that when youre fighting a heavy hitter. If he connects, then youre going to get hurt. "Ive done that in the past with other fights where Ive been knocked down, getting hit, and -- coming back -- have won it. But its not a good thing to go long-term so Ive changed up. Im going to come in and be ready to go from the beginning this time around." Kampmann did not detail what was weighing on his mind against Hendricks, other to say there were issues outside the fight world. "I thought I left it outside but maybe I didnt." He insists this time he is ready both physically and mentally for the five-round challenge. Over his career, Kampmann has been criticized for being drawn into his opponents game at the expense of his own strategy. "Ive definitely made mistakes in the past," Kampmann acknowledged. "Especially when I fought Shields. Thats the fight Im most disappointed in my own performance. Because I pretty much game that fight away. I was beating him ... Even the way I fought, I still thought I beat him. Because he didnt really do nothing other than lay on me and hug me." Despite that, in the cage after the fight, Kampmann pointed to the lack of damage on his face in making his case for the win. Two of the three judges disagreed. "I was trying too much to submit him, which was stupid," Kampmann said of Shields, a jiu-jitsu expert. "I should have just pounded him out." A former engineering student, Kampmann started out in karate and Thai boxing. He began to add submissions to his arsenal in 2000, studying tapes at first and then training in Sweden and parts further afield. He made his pro debut in February 2003. After meeting American fighter Mike Pyle in Denmark, he hooked up with him in Las Vegas to train. The World Fighting Association was looking for a middleweight and Kampmann got the job on two days notice. He stopped Edwin Aguilar in two minutes 43 seconds in July 2006 to up his record to 9-1. The UFC noticed and he was fighting in the organization a month later. What started as a hobby for Kampmann, who moved down to welterweight after a 2008 loss to Nate (The Great) Marquardt, has become a career. "Im happy," he said. "I can live and do my hobby and I can compete at the highest level of the sport. "But I still have goals left that I want to achieve. Beating Condit, finishing Condit is one of them. Of course, getting the title is a goal of mine too." Kampmann has endured some tough times along the way. In early 2008, not having access to health insurance, he removed stitches from under his eyebrow using sterilized tweezers, nail clippers and a mirror. A survivor inside and outside the cage, he says his path to a world title consists of small steps. 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