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Tuesday, Nov. 30 8:00pm ET
Nuggets score just 29 in second half | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Joe Smith, who broke a foot playing in a pickup game last summer, turned his first start of the season into a starring role. Smith was 12-of-16 from the field and scored 12 of his season-high 26 points in the decisive third quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves extended the Denver Nuggets' road losing streak to eight games, 109-92 Tuesday night.
Smith had a season-best nine rebounds for the second time in five nights against Denver. Eight of them were on the defensive boards. "He kills us," Raef LaFrentz said. "He's a Nugget killer. Part of that is my responsibility. He keeps getting his hook shot over me." And his jumper, and his layup. Smith scored 18 points against Denver on Friday night. "Joe Smith would be an All-Star if he played against Denver every night," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said. "It's a variety of shots, inside, perimeter." Antonio McDyess said the Nuggets should know better, too. "It never fails," he said. "He does it to us every single time. He comes out and has a big game, a 20-point game or a 30-point game. It just seems like we focus on one player so much that Joe Smith is invisible. He scores 20 or 30 points without us even knowing it." Coach Flip Saunders told Smith just 30 minutes before tipoff that he'd be starting. "It was a shocker," said Smith, who replaced Dean Garrett at center. "That's a huge boost. I wanted to come out and show him I'm not thinking about my it, my foot is fine. And hopefully my minutes will go up." Saunders wanted Smith to match up with LaFrentz, who burned the Wolves for 19 points and 20 rebounds Friday night. LaFrentz scored the game's first seven points, then went 16 minutes without a basket and finished with 11 points and nine boards. Nick Van Exel said the Nuggets focused on Minnesota's other shooters and paid the price. "Smith plays big against us," Van Exel said. "He tends to be the guy left open." All the Timberwolves looked open in the second half, when Minnesota outscored the Nuggets 52-29. "We came out and turned up the defensive intensity," Malik Sealy said. That, combined with Smith's hot hand, was too much for Denver. The Nuggets, who are 6-2 at home, are 0-5 on the road this season and haven't won outside of Colorado since beating the Los Angeles Clippers 103-101 on April 18. For one half, the Nuggets looked nothing like the road kill they've been in losing 81 of their last 86 road games. Denver jumped out to a 63-54 halftime lead thanks to an 11-4 run capped by Van Exel's falling-out-of-bounds 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Wolves managed just three offensive rebounds in the first half, were outrebounded 20-10 overall and outscored 16-7 from the foul line. But Smith scored 12 of his points in the third quarter when the Wolves, still smarting from a 114-105 loss at Denver on Friday, outscored the Nuggets 33-16. Denver was just 5-of-25 from the field in the quarter and never recovered. Terrell Brandon and Sealy each added 18 points for the Timberwolves, and Kevin Garnett had 16. McDyess and Ron Mercer led the Nuggets with 16 points. Game notesMinnesota's all-time low for rebounds in a half is eight. ... Saunders said Smith (foot) and Sam Mitchell (knee) are about 75 percent and won't be fully recovered until January. Smith said he was about a week or two away. ... Saunders said he canceled the team's shootaround because the Wolves' best three games this season have come when they opted for rest instead of the game-day tuneup. ... The game drew a season-low 13,117 to Target Center. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS Atlanta 107 Toronto 89
Minnesota 109
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