Timberwolves at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are geared toward being a dramatically improved team
and their opening-game performance certainly won't dissuade that belief.
The Nuggets posted a 105-85 road win over the Houston Rockets to start
the season and look to make it two consecutive victories when they host
the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Denver went 30-52 last season but outperformed the Rockets - a participant in last season's Western Conference finals - in every facet of the game in Mike Malone's first contest as coach. "We worked hard enough to come in here and expect to win a game," Malone said afterward. "This should not come as a shock. Everybody outside of our organization can pick us last if they want, but we feel we have a chance to do something special this year and I think the way we played showed that promise." Point guard Ricky Rubio scored a career-best 28 points and added 14 assists with just one turnover as Minnesota recorded a 112-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. The win under interim coach Sam Mitchell was emotional as it came in the club's first game since coach and president Flip Saunders died of cancer on Sunday at age 60.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN North-Plus (Minnesota), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (1-0): Rubio has been a fantastic floor leader over his first four NBA seasons but a porous shooter who entered the season with a field-goal percentage of 36.7. He worked on his outside shooting in the offseason and the labor paid off in the opener as he was 10-of-17 from the field during an inspirational performance. "I think we had a little help," Rubio said in reference to Saunders' death. "It's been a tough week. It's hard to explain. Everybody went through a lot of pain. But even though Flip's gone, he will stay with us forever."
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (1-0): The club is hoping to get an injury-free season out of small forward Danilo Gallinari, and he was on his game in the opener with 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Gallinari missed the entire 2013-14 campaign due to a knee injury and another knee ailment limited him to 59 games last season. But Denver signed Gallinari to a two-year, $34 million extension in the offseason and is hoping he can better his career scoring average of 14.2 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets won three of four against the Timberwolves last season and are 37-18 at home in the series.
2. Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, had 14 points and 12 rebounds in his NBA debut.
3. Denver SF Wilson Chandler (hip) sat out the opener and is likely to miss the first two weeks of the season.