Minnesota Timberwolves beat Denver Nuggets 119-114 on the road on Monday, April 20, after falling far behind. The Timberwolves were down 14 at one quarter break and still finished 5 ahead.
The game, quarter by quarter
The Nuggets struck first, taking the opening quarter 39-25 and a 14-point lead after one. The Timberwolves pulled even with a 39-25 second quarter, sending the game to halftime tied at 64.
The Nuggets won the third 29-26 to turn the game around, taking a 3-point lead into the fourth. The Timberwolves took the fourth 29-21; the Timberwolves completed the comeback for a 119-114 regulation win.
What flipped it
The Timberwolves grabbed 19.1% of their own misses, while the Nuggets recovered 11.1%. The Timberwolves got more from their shots, finishing at 55.6% effective field-goal shooting compared with 52.9% for the Nuggets. In a 5-point game, the second chances kept adding up.
The Nuggets did win one battle, the free-throw line: FT rate of 26.7 against 21.1. The Timberwolves made up for it elsewhere.
At roughly 105 possessions per team, the Timberwolves produced 113.7 points per 100 possessions to 108.9 for the Nuggets.
Who carried the comeback
Jamal Murray was the game's biggest individual force for DEN: 30 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast on 11-25 shooting. His Game Score of 22.1 led everyone. His team was -4 with him on the floor.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 24 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast on 7-14 shooting, good for a 20.5 Game Score.
Nikola Jokic (24 pts, 15 reb, 8 ast) and Anthony Edwards (30 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast) each recorded a double-double.
What it means
By our Win Meter this was an upset: The Timberwolves entered with about a 22% chance.
Across the last 9 meetings in our records, Minnesota Timberwolves lead 5-4.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.