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Sports
The Associated Press
Denver

Towns, Edwards lead Timberwolves to 136-130 win over Nuggets

Timberwolves Nuggets Basketball
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, right, drives the lane as Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, April 1, 2022, in Denver.
David Zalubowski/AP

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The Minnesota Timberwolves are still polishing their playoff credentials and Karl-Anthony Towns gave a sneak peek Friday night of just what type of challenge they'd present in the postseason.

Towns scored 32 points and the Timberwolves overcame Nikola Jokic's 38-point, 19-rebound performance in a 136-130 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

D'Angelo Russell added 24 points and Anthony Edwards scored half of his 18 points on a trio of clutch 3-pointers in the closing minutes to help the Wolves fend off Denver's comeback, snap a two-game skid and halt the Nuggets' three-game surge up the standings.

“I think we’ve shown multiple times we’re a playoff team and I think we also shown that we’re not a joke,” Towns said. "This is the real deal Holyfield. Tonight was just another night with the chips all on the table — and for both teams. They even played their MVP 44 minutes.

“I think both teams showed that we were all into winning this game and we both understood the magnitude of this game and the importance. We just came out and found a way to win in their home.”

Aaron Gordon scored 24, including a reverse alley-oop dunk, and Monte Morris had 23 for Denver. But what did in the Nuggets were the 36 free throws they allowed and the 30 points they gave up off 18 turnovers.

“We had some stupid turnovers,” said Jokic, who finished two assists shy of a triple-double.

The Timberwolves (44-34) still are long shots to avoid a play-in scenario but they gave themselves a shot by taking three of four in the season series with Denver (46-32), which fell a half-game behind Utah in the Northwest Division.

Taurean Prince sank a pair of free throws with 19.8 seconds left after the Nuggets, who trailed by as many as 15, had pulled to 133-130 on Will Barton's 3-pointer, and Edwards added a free throw to cap the scoring.

The Timberwolves took a 70-65 lead into the locker room after Edwards blocked Morris, who bypassed open teammates in both corners to take it to the hoop against two defenders, and Prince scored at the other end.

Before tip-off, Nuggets coach Michael Malone was blunt about how his team has been pulling out games in which they played poorly.

They weren't so fortunate against the Wolves.

Up next

Timberwolves: Wrap up their road schedule at Houston on Sunday night before finishing with three home games.

Nuggets: Visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon before finishing up with three home games.