Karl-Anthony Towns unleashed a primal scream and Malik Beasley held his pose for just a beat longer than he needed to.
Needing a win to keep their hopes of avoiding the play-in tournament alive, Minnesota came into Ball Arena and wrested Friday night’s game away from the Nuggets. Their 136-130 victory snapped Denver’s three-game winning streak and trimmed its cushion over the Timberwolves to just two games with only four games left in the regular season.
Now 46-32, the No. 6 Nuggets head to Los Angeles for a Sunday tilt against the Lakers. Instead of building an almost insurmountable lead over Minnesota, the Nuggets fell to a team that was hungrier — and more desperate — than they were.