DENVER, Dec. 9 (Ticker) -- So many of the Denver Nuggets are still young enough to be college players that it almost seemed fitting when their offense ran out of gas after 40 minutes.

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The Nuggets did not make a basket over a 5:40 stretch of the fourth quarter and allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to storm back for a 92-84 victory.

The Nuggets stayed close for most of the game and took a 71-65 lead with a 10-0 run at the beginning of the final period. During the run, 22-year-old forward Donnell Harvey was the oldest player on the floor for Denver, as Kenny Satterfield (21) played point guard and rookies Junior Harrington (22), Nene Hilario (20) and Nikoloz Tskitishvili (19) filled out the lineup.

"Satterfield and Harrington did a great job for us," said Denver center Mark Blount, who scored six points. "The young guys like Nene, Tskitishvili and the guards gave us a boost."

But the lead was short-lived, as Denver's attack went cold after James Posey's fadeaway jumper put the Nuggets up, 75-69, with 6:52 left.

Posey also made Denver's next basket, but by then, there was only 1:12 left and Minnesota had taken an 87-79 lead with an 18-2 run. Kevin Garnett and Troy Hudson combined to score 14 points during the spurt.

"They made a run at us, but the object is to stay in the game," Garnett said. "You cannot lose composure. You have to stay focused and play hard. Juwan Howard and Donnell Harvey played hard, but we were aggressive. You have to fight to the end."

Garnett was just short of a triple-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Hudson scored 22 points to lead the Wolves.

"(Garnett) had a good game," Harrington said. "We tried to contain him. They hurt us on the glass and with second-chance points. They were gasping for air a little in the third quarter, but they pushed it in the fourth and Garnett took them over the hump."

Minnesota outrebounded Denver, 50-39, led by Garnett. Forward Joe Smith added 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

"I told the team before the game and at halftime that this game would be decided on the boards," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "They outrebounded us by 11 and had 18 second-chance points. Poor shooting and their control of the boards got them some easy fast-break points."

Denver has been outrebounded in eight straight games. The Nuggets have won just two times in 11 games this season when they have faced a deficit on the boards.

Howard scored 20 points to lead Denver. Satterfield scored seven of his season-high 15 points during Denver's run at the outset of the fourth quarter.

Although guard Chris Whitney missed the game due to a family emergency, Denver committed a season-low nine turnovers.

"I thought Kenny and Junior did a pretty good job for us tonight at the point," Bzdelik said. "They had eight assists combined, which I think is pretty good."

Denver, which came into the game averaging a league-low 78.7 points per game, fell to 0-9 when allowing 90 or more points.