MINNEAPOLIS — Allen Iverson scored 33 points, Carmelo Anthony added 26 and the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-107 on Friday night.
The Nuggets showed little hangover affect from Thursday night’s victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Denver led 12-0 before the game was three minutes old and took a 61-52 lead into halftime.
Minnesota has lost a season-worst seven straight and is off to the worst start in franchise history at 4-28. Reserve Rashad McCants led the Timberwolves with a career-high 34 points, and Al Jefferson had 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Former Minnesota guard Anthony Carter, one of the stars of Thursday’s victory, hit his first four shots and finished with a season-high 11 assists and 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting. The veteran point guard ignited Denver’s fast start by pushing the ball up the court and was a big reason the Nuggets outscored Minnesota 24-4 on the fast break.
Denver went inside often, finishing with 64 points in the paint.
Still, the Wolves managed to cut the deficit to six with three minutes left in the fourth.
But consecutive baskets from Iverson, who had 11 points in the final quarter, squashed any hopes for a Wolves comeback.
Looking for some offense to complement Jefferson, Minnesota coach Randy Wittman started Marko Jaric and Sebastian Telfair in the backcourt. The duo struggled, shooting a combined 5-for-20, but McCants provided a spark off the bench.
Wittman talked before the game about the need for the third-year guard to be more aggressive and “get quicker.” McCants totaled just 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting in his three previous games before looking sharp on Friday.
Kenyon Martin finished with 11 points for Denver and looked sharp during a stretch in the third quarter where he scored seven points. Reserve Linas Kleiza added 17.
Ryan Gomes had his third straight solid game for Minnesota, finishing with 15 points.
Notes: Anthony notched his 1,000th career assist and became the sixth-leading scorer in Nuggets history. … Carter had 10 of his assists by halftime. … Wolves injured guard Randy Foye will have his knee re-evaluated on Monday. … Jefferson celebrated his 23rd birthday on Friday.
