Garnett powers Wolves to win

DENVER (AP) -- Juwan Howard knows what to expect from Kevin Garnett, and he still couldn't stop the Minnesota Timberwolves star down the stretch.

Garnett had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Troy Hudson scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 92-84 Monday night.

"Once you're hot like Kevin was and he's getting touches like that, there's really nothing much you can do," said Howard, who led the Nuggets with 20 points and seven rebounds.

"In the first half, I tried to make it hard for him to catch the ball off the block and make all his shots kind of tough for him, but he's a good player and you're not going to hold him down," Howard said.

Hudson and Garnett combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Timberwolves, who had lost two of three. Garnett has double-doubles in 11 straight games.

"They are going to make a run. The object is to stay in it and make sure your guys aren't standing around," Garnett said. "You have to think about being aggressive. I decide to be aggressive and make the right decisions."

Hudson's spurt was sparked by a pep talk from coach Flip Saunders during a timeout.

"I didn't like Troy's pressure, so we got on him a little bit after Kenny Satterfield took him a couple of times," Saunders said. "So we challenged him and he picked him up full-court."

MINNESOTA (92)

Trent 1-4 1-2 3, Garnett 8-16 4-7 20, Nesterovic 5-8 2-4 12, Gill 2-9 2-2 6, Hudson 7-14 6-6 22, Smith 2-4 6-8 10, Strickland 0-1 0-0 0, Peeler 2-7 0-0 5, Jackson 2-5 5-6 9, Woods 0-4 0-0 0, Slater 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 31-74 27-37 92.

DENVER (84)

Howard 7-15 6-6 20, Bowen 2-6 1-1 5, Blount 2-9 2-4 6, Harrington 2-4 0-0 6, Posey 4-9 0-1 9, Satterfield 7-11 1-3 15, Harvey 2-10 0-0 4, White 2-6 0-0 4, Yarbrough 2-5 0-0 6, Hilario 1-7 0-0 2, Tskitishvili 2-4 2-2 7. Totals 33-86 12-17 84.

Minnesota 24 23 18 27 -- 92

Denver 21 23 17 23 -- 84

3-Point Goals--Minnesota 3-6 (Hudson 2-4, Peeler 1-2), Denver 6-14 (Harrington 2-2, Yarbrough 2-3, Tskitishvili 1-2, Posey 1-3, Harvey 0-1, Satterfield 0-1, White 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Minnesota 63 (Garnett 13), Denver 48 (Harvey 9). Assists--Minnesota 23 (Garnett 8), Denver 23 (Posey 5). Total fouls--Minnesota 23, Denver 31. Technicals--Minnesota Defensive Three Second. Flagrant fouls--Harrington. A--12,378 (19,099).