THE Minnesota Timberwolvesbuoyed by a spectacular moment in a come-from-behind victory, will try to achieve its fourth consecutive victory against the Denver Nuggets Tuesday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota (47-21) will play on short rest after erasing a 16-point deficit and winning 114-104 against the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City. The Timberwolves finished their six-game road trip with a 4-2 record.
Now, they will open a four-game homestand with a matchup against Denver (47-21). The two teams are battling with the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-20) for the top seed in the Western Conference heading into the playoffs.
The Nuggets will be better rested but likely in a worse mood, as they just lost 107-105 at the buzzer to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Kyrie Irving hit a left-handed shot to beat Denver. In addition to allowing Irving’s final basket, the Nuggets were overwhelmed by the Mavericks 60-37.
Nuggets coach Mike Malone called attention to the rebounding gap after the loss.
“I can’t remember the last time we were outscored by (23),” Malone said.
Nikola Jokic and his teammates will look to improve the glass against Minnesota, which is dealing with injuries to several of its best big men.
Karl-Anthony Towns is out with a knee injury. Rudy Gobert missed the last two games with a rib injury, and Naz Reid left the competition with a head injury.
Gobert hopes to return soon, but his status for Tuesday was uncertain.
“Right now the pain level is getting better day by day, but it’s still not enough for me to be myself and help the team,” Gobert said before Monday’s game. “Which is never fun, but I hope it’s just a matter of days.”
Anthony Edwards provided additional scores with Towns and Gobert sidelined. Edwards scored a team-high 32 points Monday, including a game-winning dunk over the head of Jazz defender John Collins.
Edwards’ teammates on the bench jumped out of their chairs as they watched the dunk. The piece quickly went viral on social media.
“He’s a special player, he’s got that special talent,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’re lucky to have him.”
The Nuggets would say the same thing about Jokic, who leads the team with 25.9 points, 12.2 rebounds and 9.1 assists this season. Jamal Murray is next on the scoring list with 20.9 points per game, and Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 16.7.
This will be the second of four meetings between the teams during the regular season.
Minnesota won the first game 110-89 on November 1 on its home field. Edwards led the Timberwolves with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, and Mike Conley scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Jokic finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in this contest. Murray scored 14 points for Denver, which shot just 39.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent (6 of 33) from 3-point range.
The Nuggets and Timberwolves are scheduled to meet in Denver on March 29 and again on April 10.
–Field level media
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