Recap: Nuggets rout the Timberwolves

The first quarter between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves was truly a tail of two halves. Instead of 24-minute halves, it was six-minute halves. Midway through the quarter, the Nuggets were leading 14-13. Coming out of the TV timeout, the Nuggets went on a 35-4 run in the first quarter, and they were leading 49-19 at the end of the first with 19 of those points coming from Michael Porter Jr., who was absolutely cruising early on in this one.

With the second unit in during the second quarter, things started a bit slowly for the Nuggets. The Timberwolves started attacking the paint right out of the gate, and they were on a run of their own to start the period with Anthony Edwards doing much of the damage. However, once the Nuggets’ starters returned to the game, the onslaught continued with Jokic eventually racking up his 19th triple-double of the season before the first half had ended. It was just the sixth time since the 1996-97 season that a player had completed a triple-double in the first half. Denver would lead at the half 79-48 as they were routing the Timberwolves despite the absence of Jamal Murray.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets were ready to put an end to this battle. Their starters came out aggressive early on, and it was only a matter of time before Minnesota was going to be waving the white flag. MPJ’s hot shooting continued, and he was up to 30 points on just 15 shots. He was followed closely by Aaron Gordon, who was 8-of-11 on the night with 24 points. Edwards was the leading scorer on the night for Minnesota with 19 points on just 11 shots, but D’Angelo Russell getting himself ejected less than five minutes into the third period was just about the final straw for the Timberwolves. Both teams had pulled all of their starters and emptied the benches by the end of the third, and Denver was cruising to a win 110-75 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, it was a constant back and forth between the two second units. They had put up 58 points combined, but the Nuggets were just continuing to put points up. All 12 players that had entered the game for them had scored, and the team as a whole was shooting greater than 60 percent from the field late into the game. They were also 48.1 percent from 3-point range on 27 attempts with 44 assists on 57 made shots. Denver would ultimately win the game 146-112 for a new season high.

Stat Leaders

Points: Michael Porter Jr. – 30

Assists: Nikola Jokic – 16

Rebounds: Jokic – 12

Player of the Game: Nikola Jokic – 20 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds, 8-of-10 field goal, 0-of-1 3-point, 4-of-5 free throw