The Minnesota Timberwolves (7-11) emerge from a five-game home stand with a 3-2 record, and have dropped two straight following 103-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. Karl-Anthony Towns led the charge for the club offensively, finishing with 22 points and seven rebounds in 7-of-14 effort from the field. Derrick Rose, in the midst of a career resurgence in Minnesota, played off the pine to the tune of 20 points, four boards and four assists, going 6-of-11 from the paint and making all six of his shot attempts from the foul line. Robert Covington, acquired last week from the Philadelphia 76ers, logged 16 points and four triples, while Andrew Wiggins put up 13 points and grabbed five rebounds. The new-look Timberwolves squad still owns the eight-best offense in the league, averaging 109.5 points per contest, despite sitting in second-last place in the Western Conference. The team heads back home on Saturday to host the Chicago Bulls.

The Brooklyn Nets (8-11) have spent their last few outings trading a series of wins and losses, and spent Wednesday night on the receiving end of a 119-113 road loss at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. As they have for the past several seasons, the Nets sputtered defensively, and were led in scoring by Allen Crabbe, who dropped 27 points in shooting 10-of-16 from field goal range and 7-of-11 from deep. Spencer Dinwiddie contributed in a reserve capacity, posting 19 points and facilitating seven assists, while fellow sub Ed Davis and D'Angelo Russell recorded 17 points apiece, with Davis coming just short of a double-double behind nine rebounds. Caris LeVert remains sidelined following his gruesome right foot injury suffered last week, and is still slated for a February return. Brooklyn sits in ninth place in the East, just a game-and-a-half behind the struggling Boston Celtics.