Timberwolves at Nuggets
THE STORY: The All-Star break cannot arrive soon enough for the Denver Nuggets, who have watched injuries and losses continue to pile up. The Nuggets return home to face the surging Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday following a winless three-game road trip that featured two crushing losses. Denver was beat on a tip-in with one-tenth of a second left at Memphis on Friday and squandered a nine-point fourth-quarter lead in an overtime defeat at Oklahoma City on Sunday. The Nuggets have won six straight against Minnesota.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS North (Timberwolves), Altitude (Nuggets)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (16-16): Minnesota has clawed back to the .500 mark with its second three-game winning streak of the month. Kevin Love’s two free throws with one-tenth of a second left were the difference in a 92-91 win over Philadelphia on Sunday. A bigger difference has been center Nikola Petkovic, who barely missed his fifth consecutive double-double with 17 points and nine boards. He has seven double-doubles this month and is averaging 21.0 points and 11.6 rebounds in his last five.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (17-15): Missing two starters, Denver fell to 2-8 in its last 10. Arron Afflalo shook off two dismal performances to lead seven players in double figures with a team-high 27 points – his fourth 20-point game in the last six. Backup point guard Andre Miller also snapped out of a funk with 21 points and 10 assists, leading a bench brigade that supplied 58 points. He had six double-doubles in the final 10 games last month, but this was his first in February.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio scored a season-high 22 points Sunday – his highest total since he was playing in Spain in 2007.
2. Denver has won nine of the last 10 meetings against Minnesota, scoring at least 110 points in eight of them.
3. The Timberwolves have not been at .500 this late in the season since they were 22-22 in 2006-07.