NBA - - Nuggets butcher the Wolves on Thanksgiving Eve, 103-101
By Daniel Quindao Guden
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 23 Nov 2018
MINNEAPOLIS - On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a heartbreaking 103-101 defeat at the hands of the visiting Denver Nuggets at the Target Center.
Nuggets forward Paul Millsap led the team with 25 points. Jamal Murray finished with 18 points while Gary Harris shared 17. Reserve point guard Malik Beasley contributed 11 off the bench and Monte Morris pocketed nine.
Karl-Anthony Towns fired 22 points and seven boards for Minnesota while Derrick Rose had 20 off the bench. Robert Covington hooked 16 while Andrew Wiggins and Dario Saric netted 13 and 12, respectively.
The Wolves sprinted fast, like Jamaican thunderbolt Usain Bolt, in the opening quarter. But despite Wiggins' early spurt, the Timberwolves only led 25-23 before stretching it to 56-50 at the halftime break.
But in the third period, the Wolves' offense collapsed and the Nuggets took advantage by racing to an 11-point lead, 85-74, courtesy of Millsap, Murray and Harris.
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau used mixed lineups in the fourth quarter --- putting in combos like Covington, Saric, Rose, Gorgui Dieng and Tyus Jones ---- and it turned out to be effective as the Wolves sliced a 13-point deficit to one, 89-88, with 7:02 to play.
But Harris swished a 3-pointer to increase the Nuggets lead to 92-88 in the last 5:23 of play. The Nuggets then held of Minnesota the rest of the way to snap their two-game road losing streak.
Paul Millsap went to the locker room for stitches after taking the blow to the head from Towns in the 5:23 mark of the third period, but he eventually returned and helped with the team win.
Towns showed threw down a thunderous slam dunk in an and-one play which could easily be Dunk of the Year over Millsap.
Up next
The Nuggets will return home and face Aaron Gordon and the Orlando Magic on Friday night while the Timberwolves will travel to New Jersey and face the Nets on Friday morning.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Daniel Quindao Guden.
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