Nuggets-Timberwolves Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 12 2012 12:48AM

Kevin Love returned the last time the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Denver Nuggets.

The Timberwolves have not officially ruled out Ricky Rubio for the second meeting of the season between these teams Wednesday night at the Target Center.

Denver (11-11) spoiled Love's surprise return for Minnesota (9-9) with a 101-94 road win Nov. 21. Love came back with 34 points and 14 boards after missing the first nine games, though he wasn't expected to be back that soon after breaking his hand in mid-October.

Rubio has been practicing for the Timberwolves, who have not played since Friday's 91-73 home victory over Cleveland. He's said he will play when his knee feels better, and coach Rick Adelman is not sure what his point guard rotation will look like with Minnesota beginning a stretch of six games in nine days.

"I don't really have an answer until I find out what Ricky's status is," Adelman said.

Forward Andrei Kirilenko said that Rubio has "looked great" in practice, although he wouldn't venture a guess as to when Rubio will make his season debut.

"He's (one of) those kind of guys that can make a difference in the game," Kirilenko said. "And playing games in practice, you see that."

The Nuggets were able to withstand the return of Love for their 20th victory in the last 22 games of this series between Northwest Division rivals thanks to a balanced attack. Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, Ty Lawson and Andre Iguodala each added 18 while Kenneth Faried battled Love inside and came away with 14 boards.

That defeat was part of a season-high five-game skid for Minnesota, which has gone 4-2 since that slide.

"It was part of that stretch, we got great (starts) and couldn't finish five games in a row," Kirilenko said. "I think lately we've been playing a little bit differently, we've kind of concentrated at the end and I hope we're going to be able to do (it) tomorrow."

Love has posted double-doubles in eight of nine games since coming back. He had a season-high 36 points and 13 boards against the Cavaliers.

The Nuggets are trying to finish their five-game trip with a winning record after battling back from an early 17-point deficit for Tuesday's 101-94 victory at Detroit.

Lawson had 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but the key was a big effort by the Denver bench. Reserve Corey Brewer scored 15 points, JaVale McGee had 12 and Andre Miller added 11 and seven assists.

"The bench came in and gave us a big lift," said Lawson, averaging 20.8 points on the trip. "JaVale was dunking, Corey was stealing the ball and getting easy layups and Andre was running the show."

Denver has led in the fourth quarter of every game on this trip.

"It has kind of been like that all season, but it is a tough road swing and we needed this win to go into Minnesota and try to get that one tomorrow," Miller said.

Pekovic leads Timberwolves over Nuggets 108-105

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Dec 12 2012 11:28PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Kevin Love heard a couple of snide remarks from the normally adoring Minnesota crowd, and it had nothing to do with his 3-for-17 shooting night against Denver.

Some disparaging comments about the Timberwolves organization and his contract appeared to get a few fans a little riled up, and Nikola Pekovic and JJ Barea stepped in to deliver a much-needed win against the road-weary Nuggets.

Pekovic had 22 points and 11 rebounds and the Timberwolves used a big advantage at the free throw line to overcome Love's shooting struggles in a 108-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Barea had 17 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals, while Love finished with eight points and grabbed 14 rebounds on a day he had to explain to Minnesota's owner some critical comments he made about the franchise.

"I heard a few things from the fans that weren't too pleasant," Love said.

The Timberwolves shot under 40 percent for much of the game, but made 30 of 37 from the free throw line. The Nuggets were just 14 of 24 at the line.

Kenneth Faried had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Nuggets, who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.

Andrei Kirilenko added 18 points and four steals and Dante Cunningham scored 12 for Minnesota.

"If we can win and I can have a game like that, I'm not going to be mad," Love said. "I was very happy."

The Wolves led by 11 with less than two minutes to play, but the Nuggets pulled within three and had the ball with 34 seconds to play. Ty Lawson's 3-pointer at the buzzer was short, and the Wolves breathed a sigh of relief.

Lawson had 17 points and 11 assists, and Danilo Gallinari scored 24 for Denver.

"We really had that no-quit attitude, especially with what Kevin Love put out in the media, challenging his teammates," Faried said.

That's not entirely accurate. Love did question the decisions made by team president David Kahn in a Yahoo! Sports story, but spent the morning meeting with reporters to say that he was happy with the direction of the team.

He then played like a guy with other things on his mind. He missed his first six shots and couldn't contain Faried's boundless energy on the defensive end. But Love said it had nothing to do with the events of the day.

"That's not why I shot poorly," Love said. "They were good looks that I just missed."

Faried has gone through peaks and valleys this season and entered the night with 22 points total in his previous four games. The Manimal got off to a ferocious start on Wednesday night, scoring 14 points and grabbing five boards in the first quarter alone. He gobbled up rebounds then blew the doors off the Minnesota big men in transition for easy buckets.

That it was coming on the second night of a back-to-back against a Wolves team that had the previous four days off was even more impressive. Then again, the Nuggets have been hardened by a grueling schedule to open this season. They've played 17 of their first 23 games on the road and were finishing up a five-game road trip.

"We lost. Any time we lose, it's a terrible game," Faried said. "You can't put stats on that or what you did well because it's a team effort. We kept pushing and we kept fighting, and that's what I admire."

The last time these two teams met, the Timberwolves sprang quite a surprise on coach George Karl and the Nuggets. Love made his season debut on that night, which came more than a week before anyone expected. His activation wasn't known until about an hour before game time, and Karl wondered if the Wolves might throw Ricky Rubio out there on Wednesday night for his first game of the season.

Karl said he received a text earlier Wednesday that "guaranteed" Rubio would not be playing that night. "That made me even more suspicious," he said. Rubio did not play. He's expected to play Saturday night against Dallas.

The Nuggets turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 27 points for the Timberwolves. Andre Iguodala had five of those errors and scored just two points on 1-for-9 shooting.

"We just didn't play an intelligent game," Karl said. "To overcome those three areas of fundamentals and to have a shot to tie is pretty impressive."

NOTES: Gallinari entered the night shooting 28 percent from 3-point range. He was 4 for 5 on Wednesday night. ... Timberwolves G/F Josh Howard missed the game because of an illness. ... Wolves SG Malcolm Lee left the game just before halftime with a hyperextended right knee and did not return.

Notebook: Timberwolves 108, Nuggets 105

Jim Beilby, For NBA.com
Posted Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:28 AM - Updated Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:28 AM

THE FACTS: The Minnesota Timberwolves overcame an off-night by Kevin Love to defeat the Denver Nuggets 108-105 on Wednesday night. While Love grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, he only scored eight points and shot the ball poorly. Nikola Pekovic and Andrei Kirilenko picked up the slack for Minnesota (10-9). Pekovic led his team with 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting and Kirilenko had 18 points and another well-rounded game where his on-the-floor impact exceeded the numbers on the stat sheet.

Kenneth Farried had a monster night for Denver (11-12). After managing only 22 points over his last four games, Farried exploded for 14 in the first quarter of tonight's game and finished with a season high 26 points and 14 rebounds. Danilo Gallinari added 24 points and was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

QUOTABLE: "I can't complain about my team's effort. They had some good moments. But there were too many free throws, too many fouls and too many gifts at the free-throw line. They got 30 points [at the line] and they get almost thirty points off our turnovers. Our decisions need to be crisper and our defense has to be smarter."

-- Denver coach George Karl

THE STAT: Minnesota went to the free-throw line 37 times (making 30), while Denver only made 14 in their 24 attempts. Minnesota came into the game ranked third in free throw attempts and had allowed the fewest attempts at the line. Minnesota also turned 19 Denver turnovers into 27 points.

TURNING POINT: After a back-and-forth third quarter, Minnesota built a sizable lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter to lead 101-90 with 2:04 to play. Denver, however, refused to mail it in and used a 10-2 run over the next 1:20 to cut Minnesota's lead. After a Five Second call gave Denver the ball trailing by three, Minnesota's Dante Cunningham and Kirilenko harassed Ty Lawson into a turnover. The giveaway led to a Kirilenko dunk which gave Minnesota a five point lead with 21.2 seconds to play. After a missed free throw by Cunningham, Denver had a chance to tie the game, but Lawson missed a last-second 3-point attempt. Actually, even if he would have made it, it would not have affected the outcome as officials ruled that Lawson's foot was on the line and would have only been a two pointer.

QUOTABLE II: "It was just a really good win. I think we battled all night long. We didn't shoot the ball well again. We got the lead at halftime and kind of gave it away at the end. But we did enough to win in the end."

-- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman

HOT: Farried scored 14 points in the first quarter on 6-for-8 shooting and Denver shot 65.0 percent as a team.

NOT: Love finished the night 3-for-17 from the floor, 0-for-3 from beyond the arc and 2-for-4 from the line. Minnesota shot 32.1 percent from the field in the opening quarter.

NOTABLE: With their win tonight, Minnesota has matched its best record through 19 games since 2006-07. ... Minnesota guard Malcolm Lee left the game with 1:05 to play in the second quarter with a hyper-extended right knee and did not return.

UP NEXT: For the Wolves, Friday @ New Orleans, Saturday vs. Dallas, Monday @ Orlando. For the Nuggets, Friday vs. Memphis, Sunday @ Sacramento, Tuesday vs. San Antonio.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Stone
• Timberwolves: Budinger, Roy, Rubio

• Nuggets: --
• Timberwolves: --

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #65 Sean Wright, #34 Kevin Cutler
• Attendance: 16444
• Duration: 2:18