MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Love will fly to New York on Wednesday morning to meet with Dr. Andy Weiland, a hand specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Weiland worked with Love on his past two hand injuries, and Love has an appointment scheduled with him for Wednesday afternoon. The team will have a better idea of the course of action to be taken after that appointment.
Love broke the third metacarpal in his right hand with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter of last Thursday's game in Denver. It's the second time he's broken the bone this season; he broke the third and fourth metacarpals on his right hand during training camp in October.
Lazar is back: The Timberwolves signed forward Lazar Hayward, whom they waived on Sunday, to a 10-day contract Tuesday afternoon. He played two games with the team last week and was back at the practice facility Tuesday, though unable to participate until he cleared waivers at 4 p.m. Upon doing so, the Timberwolves re-signed him.
In two games and a total of 12 minutes on the court with the Timberwolves, Hayward logged two points, two rebound and two assists.
Ricky, Pek planning to play: As I reported yesterday, both point guard Ricky Rubio and center Nikola Pekovic will play Tuesday against Atlanta. That was the word out of Monday's practice, and neither suffered a setback to prevent him from playing.
Rubio has missed four consecutive games with back spasms. He last played on Dec. 26 against Houston, logging eight points, two assists and a steal in 21:23, the most he's played in a game this season.
Pekovic sat for most of the second half of Saturday's game with a left hip strain, which he suffered in Denver.
Miscellaneous stats: Here are a few notes that are especially applicable to Tuesday night's game against the Hawks:
• At the Target Center this season, the Timberwolves' have held opponents to 42.4 percent shooting. That's the lowest home opponent field-goal percentage the team has had since 2003-04 and the second-best mark in franchise history.
• The Timberwolves have a plus-8.6-point differential at home this year against Eastern Conference teams. They're also holding Eastern Conference teams to 39.0 percent shooting at the Target Center.
• Lou Williams of the Hawks will pose a passive three-point threat. He has the highest three-point shooting percentage as a starter of any player in the NBA, going 26-of-55 for 47.3 percent from long range.
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