Timberwolves defeat Nuggets with 117-108 victory at Denver

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 1, 2026

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After going 4-0 against the Denver Nuggets last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled with their division rival this season, having dropped their first three matchups against them, including an overtime loss on Christmas Day.

Their matchup Sunday Denver’s Ball Arena had weight in the Western Conference standings, and the Wolves’ quest to rise to the third seed by season’s end could receive a boost with a victory over Denver. Both teams had the same 37-23 record coming into the day.

The Wolves’ lone victory against Denver came at the right time, though, as they came away with a 117-108 win. The Wolves closed their three-game road trip 3-0 and have won six of their past seven games.

After falling behind early, the Wolves used a 36-19 second quarter to grab the lead and they never relinquished it, despite a few Denver runs.

Anthony Edwards led a balanced Wolves scoring effort with 21 points. Jaden McDaniels had 20 while Bones Hyland had 18, 15 of those in the first half.

Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Denver.

What it means

The Wolves continue their gradual climb up the West standings. They are now in fourth place, a game ahead of Denver, and will try to stay ahead of the Nuggets and chase down Houston for the third seed.

Because of their 1-3 record vs. the Nuggets, the Wolves don’t have the tiebreaker will need to finish a game ahead of them in the standings in a head-to-head tiebreaker scenario to be seeded ahead of them.

“We flagged it as a playoff game for us,” coach Chris Finch told reporters in Denver. “They have the tiebreaker so we got to keep our nose in front of them. That means we had to win this one here. We were mad at ourselves on Christmas. We had kicked that one away, and we were itching to get back here and redeem ourselves.”

How it happened

The Wolves were slow out of the gate and fell behind 31-22 in the first quarter on just 9-for-21 shooting. Jokic made them pay for their lack of defensive discipline with 13 points and four assists.

The Wolves got going in the second quarter while Jokic rested. Denver was minus-11 when he was off the floor, while Bones Hyland hit some shots while the rest of the team struggled. He finished the first half with a team high 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Hyland seemed to relish the opportunity to play in a big game against the team that traded him to the Clippers in 2023.

“You got to win the non-Jokic minutes,” Finch said. “We’ve been inconsistent over the last several years with that. ... Bones was spectacular today. Played with great pace, got downhill and forced things to happen. Loved his defense, too. Really competed.”

The Wolves got contributions outside of their top two in Edwards and Julius Randle. McDaniels had 10 points in the first half while Ayo Dosunmu also had seven points. Their defense woke up in the second quarter and held the Nuggets to just 19 points, which led to a 58-50 Wolves lead at the half.

The Wolves led by as many 14 in the game, but Denver made a run toward the end of the third quarter that cut its deficit to 87-82 before Randle got a three-point play to bump the score to 90-82 entering the fourth.

Naz Reid opened the fourth quarter with nine points that kept the Wolves ahead by double digits while Jokic rested to start the period. Denver never seriously threatened again.

Key stat

Denver only had six made 3-pointers. The Nuggets’ inability to score from deep prevented their ability to come back in the second half. The Wolves turned Jokic into a scorer from two-point range.

Six was also the number of fast-break Denver had to 30 for the Wolves.

“We got 50-50 balls after the first quarter, knocked off a little bit of the sluggishness, got our second wind and I thought we were quicker to a lot of basketballs,” Finch said. “We were able to rebound, outlet pretty deep and get out. Guys did a good job of playing clean and safe in transition.”

New two-way signee

The Wolves were set to sign Zyon Pullin to a two-way contract after waiving Jules Bernard, Hoopshype reported. Pullin, who attended UC Riverside and Florida, has averaged 26.7 points for the Iowa Wolves over three regular-season games, per Basketball Reference.

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