Denver, CO – Ty Lawson scored 24 points and Arron Afflalo netted 21 as the Denver Nuggets pulled out a 113-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Danilo Gallinari contributed 18 points while Kenneth Faried notched a 16- point, 12-rebound double-double in the victory, Denver's second straight.
The Nuggets moved into a three-way tie with Houston and idle Dallas for the sixth position in the Western Conference. Utah is 1 1/2 games back.
Anthony Randolph and Derrick Williams both provided a spark off the bench for Minnesota, pouring in 28 and 27 points, respectively, but the Wolves extended their season-high losing streak to seven games.
Minnesota came back from a 24-point deficit early in the second half. Randolph made 8-of-9 shots, Williams connected on 8-of-14 and the team as a whole shot almost 60 percent in the final two frames as they turned a 71-47 Denver lead into a 97-97 tie on Anthony Tolliver's three-pointer with 4:58 to play in the fourth.
Gallinari answered by draining his own triple and driving for a layup to prevent the Wolves from taking back the lead, but the visitors again knotted the game a bit later, at 105-105 on Williams' three with 1:41 remaining.
Afflalo made a layup four seconds later, and Faried knocked down a pair from the line to push the Nuggets' edge back to four.
The Timberwolves had annother opportunity to tie after Randolph dunked and Gallinari missed his three-point try. J.J. Barea's fadaway jumper bounced off the front of the rim, however, and Lawson pulled down the rebound. He hit four from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Denver led 37-24 after one and 68-47 at the half.
Game Notes
Minnesota's Wayne Ellington sat with back spasms...Barea finished with 12 points, along with Nikola Pekovic and Martell Webster...Both teams shot 50 percent from the field.
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