DENVER — First, this Timberwolves team without Karl-Anthony Towns had to learn how to be competitive in the games Towns was going to miss.
Now, they have to learn how to win those competitive games late.
For the second straight game, the Wolves carried a small lead into the third quarter against Denver only to fall, this time 123-116at Ball Arena.
On Sunday, Denver put the game out of reach with an early fourth-quarter run. While this time the Wolves stayed within reach, the Wolves free-flowing offense began plodding as the pace of the game slowed and Denver's defense became impenetrable. The Wolves couldn't regain the rhythm and pace they had when they turned the game in their favor in the second-quarter.
NIkola Jokic had 35 points, 15 rebounds and six assists for Denver. Juancho Hernangomez had his best game of the season for Minnesota with 25while D'Angelo Russell shook off a slow first quarter to score 33 points to go with 11 assists. Jarred Vanderbilt might have played his way into the rotation as he took advantage of Naz Reid's foul trouble to post 11 points and five rebounds and was on the floor in crunch time. Ricky Rubio did not score in 21 minutes.
The Wolves led 96-93 after three quarters and after stretching that lead to seven, Denver went on a 7-0 run to tie the score 100-100. As the pace slowed, the Wolves struggled offensively and had multiple possessions where they chucked shots at the end of the shot clock. Denver scored 10 of the next 12 points and led 110-102 with 5 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. Try as they did, the Wolves never could get the game down to one possession digits, and a Jokic layup put it out of reach, 121-110, with 1:23 to go.
The Wolves dug themselves a hole in the first quarter as Denver raced out to a 19-10 lead within the first five minutes, prompting a timeout from Ryan Saunders after a 7-0 Nuggets run. But Saunders couldn't slow Denver down, as the Nuggets pushed the lead to as much as 16. The Nuggets hit 6 of their first 7 shots as the Wolves struggled to generate offense outside of Juancho Hernangomez. The Wolves couldn't get anything to fall on offense even when they did get a good shot at the rim. They began the game 8-for-18 on shots in the paint, a bugaboo for them so far this season.
Hernangomez had 10 points in the quarter on 4 of 6 shooting. The rest of the team was 3-for-16.
After Naz Reid picked up three fouls in less than six minutes of play, Saunders went to a member of his bench he hadn't prior to garbage time this season — Jarred Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt, who came to the Wolves from Denver in the Hernangomez Malik Beasley trade last February, provided instant energy for the Wolves early in the second quarter. He, too, picked up three fouls, but not before making an impact on the game and lifting the Wolves in the process. When Vanderbilt entered the game with 9 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter the Wolves were down 13. Two minutes later they were down 18, but then their fortunes turned. A Vanderbilt offensive rebound led to an Anthony Edwards dunk, and after Vanderbilt hit a layup, he got a steal that led to a dunk for Malik Beasley. The Wolves were down 11 and making their run.
Then Russell took the reins from there as he and Hernangomez brought the offense back to life. Both seemed to take turns draining shots during a 15-2 burst that put the Wolves ahead 63-59 with 1:07 left in the half. They went into the half with a 65-62 lead with a 43-point second quarter.
That quarter was one to feel good about for the Wolves, but like Sunday, the Wolves will have to live with what positives they found in another loss.
