Nuggets get a glimpse of their future in loss to Timberwolves

Behind 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists from Karl-Anthony Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the Denver Nuggets 111-108.

A parade to the free-throw line over the game’s last two minutes saw Minnesota miss two free-throws before Jameer Nelson was off on a 17-footer with two seconds remaining with Denver down two. A buzzer-beating three in the corner from Nelson with one second remaining was off as the Nuggets dropped a very winnable game to a division rival.

For Denver, Gary Harris led the way with 22 points on 9-13 shooting. Rookie Jamal Murray scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting off the bench and Nikola Jokic chipped in 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.

Besides Towns, Minnesota got a healthy 24 points on 10-19 shooting from Andrew Wiggins and 20 points off the bench from Shabazz Muhammad.

A hyper-efficient first quarter from Jokic where the second-year center scored six points on 2-3 shooting to go with three rebounds and three assists bled over into the second quarter, which was the Murray show.

Playing extended minutes at backup point guard, Murray played seven minutes in the second quarter and scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting. Murray and Harris were the only two Nuggets players to finish the half with a positive plus-minus.

The Nuggets led 54-49 when Murray exited the game with 4:39 left in the second quarter. From there, Minnesota went on a 13-4 run to close the half. Murray who got the lionshare of the minutes at backup point guard with Emmanuel Mudiay sidelined with a back injury provided Denver a potential glimpse into their future at the position. Murray scored from everywhere on the floor; from three, at the rim, and from mid-range.

In the first half, Denver shot 59.5 percent from the field but was just 2-8 from three. The Timberwolves shot 61.4 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three and scored 18 points off Denver’s ten first-half turnovers to take a 62-58 lead into the break.

A tight game seeped into the fourth quarter but not before Towns poured in 11 points in the third. Towns and Jokic went at eachother tonight. It was an exciting matchup featuring two of the league’s young big men with bright futures.

Arthur, who’s battled knee soreness all year, helped the Nuggets stretch their advantage to 9 with 5:47 left in the fourth. The 28-year-old scored four points early in the quarter and played spectacular defense on Towns with Jokic on the bench.

Then, a 12-2 Minnesota run gave the Timberwolves a one-point lead with 3:00 minutes left. The two teams traded buckets until Nelson used up Denver’s last good possession with two seconds remaining as he closed the game over Murray.

With the loss, the Nuggets dropped to 18-26 on the season.

Footnotes

Harris returned from a right ankle sprain that sidelined the shooting guard for the past three games. Showing no ill-effects of the injury, Harris started and played 35 minutes in the loss.

Mudiay did not travel with the team after experiencing lower back pain in the Nuggets’ win over the Clippers Saturday. Mudiay stayed in Denver to get treatment. Nelson started at point guard in Mudiay’s place.

What’s next

The Nuggets are back home in Denver this week for games against the Jazz (Tuesday), and Suns (Thursday).