After falling to Toronto on Tuesday night, the Denver Nuggets evened their season record at 2-2 with a 102-99 win in Minneapolis over the Timberwolves.
Defending NBA Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points in the first quarter as Minnesota jumped out to an early lead, but the Nuggets would dominate the middle half of the game, outscoring the T-Wolves 66-38 in the second and third quarters combined. Denver owned the third quarter, especially, putting up 33 in the quarter and limiting Minnesota to just 14.
Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler each had 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic led all players with a plus-13 plus-minus rating. Nurkic added 18 points of his own. Rookie Jamal Murray earned his first start of the season with Gary Harris and Will Barton both sidelined with injury. Murray was 0-for-8 shooting, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Denver’s tough road trip continues with back-to-back games over the weekend. They face Detroit Saturday and then Boston on Sunday. The five-game road trip concludes on Tuesday at Memphis, but things won’t be any easier for Denver upon their return home. The Warriors come to town on the 10th.
