DENVER, Feb. 19 (Ticker) -- Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak combined for more than half of the Minnesota Timberwolves points as they sent the Denver Nuggets to their seventh straight loss, 85-77.

NBA TV highlights from Wolves-Nuggets: 56k | 300k

Garnett collected 25 points and 14 rebounds for his league-leading 44th double-double of the season, while Szczerbiak had a season-high 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting. The Timberwolves are 16-5 since Szczerbiak returned from the injured list on January 10.

"That's what you get from an MVP," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said of Garnett. "(And Szczerbiak) has played well. Tonight he did some good things."

Minnesota has won seven of its last eight games and five in a row against Denver. Still, all four of their meetings this season were competitive, as the Timberwolves' average margin of victory was nine points.

"They play hard," Saunders said. "They're pesky. They're into you. They're physical. A lot of times, they upset your execution. ... Denver is a team we don't like to play. They don't let you play like you want to."

The Nuggets have not played as they have wanted to as they were held under 80 points for the fourth time during their current skid. Denver is 1-25 when scoring fewer than 80 points.

"I think we are all just looking to the future," Denver forward Ryan Bowen said.

The Nuggets scored 20 of the game's first 30 points but quickly allowed their early lead to evaporate and trailed 45-44 at halftime.

Denver stayed close and edged within 65-63 on a 3-pointer by rookie Nikoloz Tskitishvili that beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter. But the Nuggets never got any closer as the Timberwolves used a 9-2 run in the middle of the fourth to take an 80-70 lead, their largest of the game.

"They are a playoff-bound team and every win is big for them," Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We need less turnovers and we need to make more shots."

Rookie Vincent Yarbrough matched a season high with 18 points for Denver but managed only six after scoring 12 on his first five shots.

"He has come a long way on his game," Bzdelik said. "He has worked very hard. He watches a lot of film and has played very well as of late."

Juwan Howard added 17 points and 11 boards for the Nuggets, who also got 11 points apiece from reserves Rodney White and Chris Andersen.

Kendall Gill scored all six of his points in the final period to help Minnesota put away the game.