Sports

Barea leads T-Wolves past Denver

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Jan 4, 2013 at 6:46 am

DENVER, Co. (KNSI) J.J. Barea scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter while All-Star forward Kevin Love sat on the bench with a sprained finger, lifting the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 101-97 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.

The Timberwolves were playing for the second straight night, but fatigue hardly appeared to be a factor as they handed the Nuggets a rare home loss. Denver, on the other hand, looked lethargic two days after snapping the Los Angeles Clippers' 17-game winning streak. Kosta Koufos and Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 16 points each.

The game went back and forth in the final quarter before Luke Ridnour gave the Timberwolves the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining. Barea then followed with another 3 to cement the win.