Al Harrington’s 31 propel Denver Nuggets to 103 – 101 win over Minnesota Timberwolves – NBA Recap
Denver Nuggets forward Al Harrington produced a swashbuckling display to help his side edge out the Minnesota Timberwolves 103 – 101. The game at the Pepsi Center was very closely contested and momentum swayed back and forth before the home side held their nerves to grab an important victory in overtime.
Harrington didn’t start the game but played around 40 minutes, scoring a game high 31 points along with 9 rebounds. The forward was pleased with his display and said after the game that he probably needed to be more aggressive in future endeavours.
"Me and Arron needed to be more aggressive, earn our pay tonight. Usually, we're laid back and let the game come to us. We forced the issue a little bit."
Arron Afflalo played pretty well too as he 20 points. Ty Lawson managed 13 and Corey Brewer had 12 on the night.
For the Timberwolves, talismanic power forward Kevin Love was again the go to man with his 22 points and 13 rebounds in a double-double display. Michael Beasley came off the bench for 17 points and Luke Ridnour managed 12 along with 6 assists.
Minnesota’s Spanish import Ricky Rubio was also noteworthy, scoring 16 points and dishing out 5 assists.
After a cagey start to the game, things picked up as the Timberwolves went on a huge 20 – 6 run, putting themselves in command at 22 – 10. The shell shocked Nuggets couldn’t find a way to cut back the huge deficit and finished the first quarter trailing at 30 – 18.
The following segment however belonged to Denver. The home side looked aggressive at the start and used a 19 – 2 rally to completely turn things around and get ahead at 43 – 40. They maintained the advantage and were up 51 – 46 at half time.
Neither side seemed like backing down after the interval. The Nuggets and the Timberwolves exchanged baskets with consistency throughout the 3rd period, and the status quo remained intact by its end, home side leading 76 – 73.
Minnesota’s 4 – 0 start to the 4th stanza gave them the lead, but they weren’t able to dislodge the Nuggets. Time and again the Timberwolves got ahead, only to be pulled back by Denver. With the score at 93 – 93, both sides had chances to win it but no one was able to connect in the clutch, forcing over time.
It was hard to separate the two sides in overtime as well, but Denver finally got their noses ahead, 101 – 97, just 13.6 seconds on the clock. Timberwolves clawed back into contention, 102 – 99, and then made a vital steal, only for Martell Webster to go for a dunk rather than a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
Nuggets seized the lifeline, holding on for the 103 – 101 victory.
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