Anthony Edwards #1 of the Minnesota Timberwolves looks at the hand of Royce O’Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz in the first quarter at Target Center on December 8, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. David Berding/Getty Images/AFP
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.
a night to remember.
Ant – 38 pts./ 5 reb./ 1 ast./ 1 blk./ 1 stl.
KAT – 32 pts./ 4 reb./ 4 ast.
DLo – 16 pts./ 8 reb./ 7 ast.
PatBev – 11 pts./ 2 reb./ 8 ast./ 1 blk. pic.twitter.com/dfsFe3IQ1S— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 16, 2021
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.