Towns Outshines Jokic As Timberwolves Defeat Nuggets

MINNEAPOLIS (The Sports Xchange) - In the first half, the anticipated matchup between Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns and Denver's Nikola Jokic was fulfilling as their two teams traded offensive blows with little defense to show from either team.

Towns owned the second half and the Timberwolves pulled out another close game.

Towns had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and hit a go-ahead jump shot with 42.5 seconds left as Minnesota came from behind to beat Denver 111-108 on Sunday.

"It got late in the game and I just wanted the ball," Towns said. "I wanted to take those shots. Me and (Andrew Wiggins), we definitely wanted to take those shots at the end of the game. But we trust everyone to shoot. Tyus Jones did a great job. Kris (Dunn) did a great job. Shabazz Muhammad was absolutely fabulous tonight.

"But at the end of the game when the ball touched my hands, I knew I wanted that shot. I felt very comfortable taking it and very confident I was going to make it."

Muhammad came off the bench to score 20 and Wiggins had 24 points for the Timberwolves (16-28), who have won five of their past seven games and four in a row at home.

Minnesota finished the game on a 20-8 run, including 5-2 over the final 42.5 seconds beginning with Towns' jumper from near the 3-point line.

Towns had 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in more than 21 second-half minutes.

"I thought Karl played so unselfishly early in the game," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He didn't fight the double team. I thought his playmaking was huge. In the last month or so, he's really grown in that area. He's seeing the double team a lot more so he knows what his reads are, what his progressions are."

Jokic had just six points and three rebounds in the second half and played just 4:37 in the fourth because of foul trouble. He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for Denver (18-25). Gary Harris returned from an ankle injury to score 22 points for the Nuggets, who had won four of their previous five games.

Denver's recent streak has come with Jokic earning more minutes from coach Mike Malone. But Jokic took a backseat in the matchup of talented, second-year centers.

The Timberwolves scored 31 points on 18 Nuggets turnovers and withstood a suddenly explosive Denver offense that had six players score in double figures.

"First half, we defended nobody," Malone said. "So, just a step backwards defensively, then offensively, our inability to value and take care of the ball was really what caused the loss."

Nuggets rookie guard Jamal Murray scored 12 points in the second quarter, but Minnesota ended the half on a 16-4 run to lead by four points (62-58).

Jokic and Towns went at each other, showing their wide range of skills. Towns scored 11 points in the third quarter, including four turnaround jumpers over Jokic. But the two teams were tied heading to the fourth.

"We have to get stops," Harris said. "When we got stops, we were pretty good and got fast breaks. They hit some big shots down the stretch and we missed some. That's how it goes sometimes."

For the second game in a row, the Timberwolves pulled out another close game. Towns hit a go-ahead shot with 45 seconds in the last game against Los Angeles.

"I think discipline-wise, it's been improving since the beginning of the season," Towns said. "Defensively, it wasn't a great night for us, but for us to have the discipline late in the game and get the stops we needed was huge."

NOTES: Minnesota PG Ricky Rubio missed the game because of personal reasons. Rubio is expected to join the team Monday as it travels to Phoenix. Kris Dunn started in place of Rubio. ... Denver was also without its starting point guard as Emmanuel Mudiay missed the game because of low back pain. It was just the second game this season Mudiay has missed. He didn't travel to Minnesota. Jameer Nelson made his eighth start of the season. ... Nuggets SG Gary Harris returned to the starting lineup after missing the past two games with a right ankle sprain. Coach Mike Malone said the team would monitor Harris' minutes. ... Denver averaged 123.8 points per game and shot 53.1 percent over its previous five games. ... The Nuggets return home to face the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. The Timberwolves go on the road for one game against the Suns on Tuesday.