LOS ANGELES – Defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions Denver Nuggets crashed to their first defeat of the season, as the Minnesota Timberwolvesin earned a 110-89 “revenge” win on Wednesday.
“I didn’t think our approach was where it needed to be. That team came out like they wanted to get some revenge. Hopefully it’s a reminder that we’re going to get everybody’s best every night,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, whose team beat Minnesota 4-1 in the first round of the last season’s play-offs.
Denver began the season in imperious form, building to a 4-0 start, but were stopped in their tracks after a dominant performance from the Timberwolves at Minneapolis’ Target Centre.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s scoring with 24 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 in the victory for the Timberwolves, who led by 19 points at half-time.
Rudy Gobert delivered a crucial defensive performance with 12 rebounds and two blocks to help shut down Denver’s free-scoring offence.
But Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said: “The maturity comes when you stack performances like this on top of one another, so that remains to be seen. But this was a great focused effort.”
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic led Denver’s scorers with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
“A lot of guys put their body on him and try to make it as hard as possible for him,” Finch said.
Jokic added: “We were kind of rushing, giving them extra looks, shooting bad shots.”
Jamal Murray contributed 14 points, six assists and six rebounds for Denver. By midway through the fourth quarter, Malone opted to rest Jokic and Murray as his team fell behind by 23. Reserves such as Hunter Tyson and Julian Strawther saw action in the final minutes.
“It just shows what we’re capable of, honestly,” Minnesota’s Mike Conley said after the win. “We know we can be a great team – we’ve got to put it together for four quarters.”
“Tonight we beat a really good team and were able to stick with the easy things and let that just bring us home,” added Conley, who finished with 17 points.
Meanwhile, LeBron James scored 35 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from an early 19-point deficit and ended an 11-game losing streak against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers with a 130-125 overtime victory on Wednesday.
Said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue: “We played hard. We just didn’t play smart at times. (Poor) shot selection, and (we needed to) keep our turnovers down a little bit. I can’t fault the effort.”
Anthony Davis produced 27 points and 10 rebounds and D’Angelo Russell also had 27 for the Lakers, who improved to 3-0 in home games this season. The Lakers defeated the Clippers for the first time since July 2020 at the NBA bubble near Orlando.
Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points and Paul George added 20 of his 35 in the fourth quarter as the Clippers lost on the same day James Harden’s trade to the team became official. Russell Westbrook contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds against his former team.
Harden and P.J. Tucker arrived in the deal from the Philadelphia 76ers, with the latter making his Clippers debut on Wednesday, pulling down five rebounds in 21 scoreless minutes. Harden is expected to make his Clippers bow on Monday in a road game against the New York Knicks.
Clippers’ president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told ESPN: “James Harden should have been an All-Star last year.
“But he’s a 10-time All-Star. He has an elite skill set, and all he cares about is one thing – he wants to win a championship for the LA Clippers.
“He wants to be part of something bigger than himself. He’s had all the individual awards. He’s about doing something really special.” AFP, REUTERS
