MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 13 (Ticker) -- Anthony Peeler scored a season-high 20 points off the bench and the Minnesota Timberwolves held the punchless Denver Nuggets to 10 points in the fourth quarter en route to an 89-75 victory.

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Peeler had five points as the Timberwolves erased a 57-47 deficit with a 13-2 run in the third quarter. Rasho Nestorovic added four points in the burst, including a bucket that gave Minnesota a 60-59 lead with 3:22 left.

Denver led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter but stalled offensively in the second half, scoring just 28 points after the break en route to its third consecutive road loss.

Juwan Howard scored 19 points for the Nuggets, who were just 3-of-12 from the field in the fourth quarter and failed to scored 80 points for the 17th time this season.

"We've got some guys working to improve and other guys just along for the ride. And those guys can walk home if they don't want to start working and improving," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said.

In addition to going 4-of-7 from 3-point range, Peeler had six assists and four steals. Kevin Garnett collected 14 points and 15 rebounds and Rod Strickland totaled 14 points and seven assists for Minnesota, which shot 49 percent (35-of-72) from the field.

"Anytime you give AP that responsibility and give him the ball, he's going to make plays," Strickland said.

Strickland played a season-high 38 minutes after Troy Hudson injured his left ankle a minute into the game.

"It's not broken, just sprained," Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said. "It's in a boot right now, we'll see how much it swells tomorrow."

"Obviously, I struggled physically, but anytime you go from 19 minutes a night to 38, that's a jolt to the body," the 36-year-old Strickland said. "I was fatigued, but I'll be all right."

After a 23-8 run to end the third quarter, Minnesota took a 70-65 lead into the final period.

Denver's Donnell Harvey sank a free throw 19 seconds into the fourth, but Kendall Gill nailed a jumper and Peeler followed with a 3-pointer to open a 75-66 advantage.

Rookie Nene Hilario scored with 3:35 left to pull Denver within 79-73, but Strickland sank a 20-footer and Wally Szczerzbiak completed a three-point play to give the Timberwolves their biggest lead at 84-73 with 1:46 to go.

"It was a frustrating fourth quarter," Howard said. "Turnovers got in our way. The shot clock got down and guys had to make plays with the clock running down. It was a bad stretch."

Ryan Bowen collected 14 points and nine rebounds and rookie Junior Harrington added 12 points and eight assists for the Nuggets, who shot 39.5 percent (30-of-76) from the floor.

Mark Blount scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter as the Nuggets built a 25-17 advantage. All eight of those points came in an 18-4 burst that gave Denver a 21-6 lead.