Timberwolves 101, Nuggets 97: Alexey Shved and Jose Barea scored 17 points apiece as Minnesota snapped both its four-game road skid and Denver's eight-game home winning streak.
Andrei Kirilenko and Luke Ridnour each had 14 points while Kevin Love added 12 and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had lost five straight visits to Denver.
The Nuggets used a 13-3 spurt early in the third to go ahead 58-52, but the Timberwolves battled back to cut the deficit to one entering the fourth. The lead changed several times in the final period until Ridnour and Barea hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Minnesota a 97-91 lead with 1:54 left.
Kosta Koufos and Ty Lawson scored 16 points apiece, Andre Iguodala chipped in 14 and Andre Miller recorded 11 and 10 assists for the Nuggets, who lost at home for just the second time in 12 games this season.
The teams traded the lead early until Denver went on a 13-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 24-15 lead with 2:02 remaining in the first quarter. Minnesota scored the next eight points to get within one and ended the period down 25-23 before limiting the Nuggets to 18 second-quarter points en route to a 47-43 halftime advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Denver fell to 16-3 over the last two seasons when Miller records a double-double. ... After going 2-for-17 from 3-point range in Wednesday's loss at Utah, Minnesota was 6-of-16 from beyond the arc. ... Both teams had six players score in double figures.
Minnesota | Denver | |
Jose Barea 17 | Scoring | Kosta Koufos 16 |
Jose Barea 5 | Assists | Andre Miller 10 |
Kevin Love 17 | Rebounds | Andre Iguodala 7 |
Andrei Kirilenko 5 | Free Throws Made | Ty Lawson 3 |
Luke Ridnour 1 | Steals | Kosta Koufos 4 |
Andrei Kirilenko 3 | Blocks | Kosta Koufos 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Minnesota | 101 | 44.6 | 6-16 | 21-30 | 21 | 52 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
Denver | 97 | 46.5 | 6-22 | 11-20 | 27 | 39 | 11 | 11 | 8 |