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
By Field Level Media
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.