National Basketball Association
Minnesota 124, Denver 107
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #3 Nick Buchert, #27 Mitchell Ervin, #29 Mark Lindsay
Attendance: 15365

Anthony Edwards scored 38 points and hit 10 of 14 3-point attempts, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points, and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 124-107 on Wednesday night.

D'Angelo Russell had 16 points and Patrick Beverley scored 11 for Minnesota, which snapped a 12-game skid against Denver by going 23-for-48 from 3-point range.

Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his sixth triple-double of the season, Monte Morris scored 15, Zeke Nnaji added 13 and Jeff Green scored 10 for the Nuggets. Markus Howard had 14 before leaving with a left knee injury.

The Timberwolves hit their first five shots and eight of their first 10 attempts of the game to race out to a 20-9 lead. A 10-2 run made it 31-15 with 4:01 left in the first but Denver rallied to get within 40-32 at the end of the first.

Nnaji opened the second with a layup but Minnesota responded with a 13-3 run to lead 53-37. Will Barton's running layup made 57-47 but the Timberwolves scored the next 10 points to lead by 20.

The Nuggets got within 75-61 at halftime.

Denver got within 83-72 early in the third quarter but Minnesota continued to shoot well.

Towns converted a three-point play, hit a 3-pointer and drained two free throws and Edwards scored on a finger roll and another from behind the arc to push the lead back to 98-76. Edwards' seventh 3-pointer of the night put the Timberwolves ahead by 23.

Three free throws by Green got the Nuggets back within 20 heading into the fourth. Howard hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth. Howard limped off the court with help after Jaden McDaniels rolled up his left leg when they were going for a loose ball with 9:23 left.

Minnesota cooled off considerably in the fourth, missing its first 11 shots of the period while Denver got within 12 with 5:45 left. Towns ended the drought with a 20-foot jumper with 5:32 left. Edwards hit a layup and two more 3-pointers, and the Timberwolves closed it out.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Denver
Anthony Edwards 38 Scoring Nikola Jokic 27
Patrick Beverley 8 Assists Nikola Jokic 11
D'Angelo Russell 8 Rebounds Nikola Jokic 10
Karl-Anthony Towns 5 Free Throws Made Jeff Green 4
Jaden McDaniels 3 Steals Markus Howard 2
Malik Beasley 1 Blocks Facundo Campazzo 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 124 51.1 23-48 11-16 24 39 5 10 12
Denver 107 45.2 14-39 17-23 33 42 3 5 18
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .462 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against L.A. Lakers. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .583 after a win and .375 after a loss.