"Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird used to say during the team's rebuilding process that he didn't want a roster full of milk drinkers.

He wanted players who weren't afraid to mix it up and play hard.

Bird is getting his wish.

The Minnesota Timberwolves -- in particular power forward Kevin Love -- became the latest team taking exception to the Pacers' style.

"They're so tough," Love said after Wednesday's 109-99 Pacers victory at Minnesota. "They take those pills and they've got all that toughness. I don't know where that comes from. They all think they're tough guys. I just don't know where that comes from. That just blows my mind. They're all tough. And it makes me laugh."

The Chicago Bulls didn't like the hard fouls the Pacers delivered on All-Star guard Derrick Rose during the playoffs last season.

"I don't really have a response to what other teams have to say about us," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I just know that we want to play physical basketball. We want to wear teams out and we want teams to feel after they've played us that they've been in a heavyweight fight."

Love, who said he doesn't like the Pacers, and Danny Granger exchanged words at the end of the third quarter after the Timberwolves power forward committed a hard foul on Granger.

"I don't mind having any kind of reputation," Granger said. "We just play hard.""