A huge night from Kenneth Faried helped lift the Denver Nuggets to a 106-102 victory over the Timberwolves, Friday night.
It was the seventh straight loss for the Wolves, who drop to 1-5 on the season in games decided by four points or less.
Faried finished with 26 points and tied the NBA’s highest rebounding total so far this season with 25 boards. His play down the stretch was the difference in an entertaining game at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Minnesota had chances down the stretch, but missed free throws by Gorgui Dieng, Thaddeus Young and Andrew Wiggins in the final two minutes hurt the Timberwolves chances.
The Wolves, who trailed by seven after three quarters, battled back to take the lead early in the fourth. Jeff Adrian’s three-point play with 11 minutes to play tied the game at 79. Moments later a put-back from Robbie Hummel put the Wolves back on top 83-82.
It was back and forth the rest of the way, but the Nuggets pulled away in the final three minutes, and the Wolves missed their opportunities from the line that could have given them the lead.
Trailing 104-101 with 17.1 seconds left, the Wolves inbounded it to Chase Budinger, who stepped on the sideline as he caught the pass, resulting in a costly turnover.
Oof and Chase's shot went down, too
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 27, 2014
Young led the Wolves with 23 while Wiggins recorded his seventh 20 point game, finishing with 22. Dieng had a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards.
Things don’t get any easier for the Wolves (5-23) on Saturday. Their road trip continues in Oakland against the league’s top team, the Golden State Warriors.
