MINNEAPOLIS – Aaron Gordon turned into Steph Curry, Christian Braun put the NBA on notice with his athleticism and Nikola Jokic was dazzling as usual. And yet, the Nuggets didn’t have enough to deal with the loss of Jamal Murray in Minnesota.

Murray left the game and entered the concussion protocol early in the second half, and Denver’s 16-point comeback was overshadowed by a 10-point lead in the final 3:30 of a 119-116 loss Friday night to the Timberwolves.

“Jamal is our closer,” said Gordon, who scored 31 points on a 5-on-7 night from 3-point range. “So when he’s not on the ground, it’s a little more sporadic.”

Anthony Edwards scored on a floater over Michael Porter Jr. for the lead with 25.7 seconds left, and the Nuggets were unable to get a good shot off as Braun drove into traffic on the ensuing possession. Rudy Gobert made a pair of free throws, then Jokic missed a controversial corner 3-pointer as time expired. Jokic finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists. Porter matched his 26 points. But Edwards went for 29, and Gobert contributed 17 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and a series of excellent defensive possessions at the end.

Both teams erased double-digit deficits in the fourth quarter.

Murray’s status is unknown for Saturday night’s back-to-back game against the Jazz, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the loss. Play continued for several possessions without a break after the collision that caused Murray’s injury, while he was clearly in pain.

“I don’t know how they missed that,” Malone said. “He wanted to set up a rip screen. And his defender, not malicious, it was not foul play, but pushed him. And it was just a lot of bodies moving at high speed. And I think he hit his head. I don’t know if it was Julius (Randle) or Aaron or who exactly was involved. But it was definitely a big hit, so obviously we will always prioritize his health and safety. And make sure it’s in a good place. If he can’t play, we obviously hope to get him back as soon as possible, but I just don’t want to speculate because I really don’t know any more details about it.”

The Nuggets largely defeated Minnesota, but were outscored by 21 from the 3-point line that night. That trend was evident early, as they jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the paint, assisted 12 of their 13 made baskets in the first quarter and took advantage of five Timberwolves turnovers by getting nine more shot attempts than they did in the first quarter. the framework.

It didn’t matter as Minnesota shot 7 for 12 from outside. Winning the math game meant you were in charge. The score was 33-29.

Then second unit happened. Denver fell behind by as many as 16 after its four bench players combined to shoot 1 of 14 in the first half.

Russell Westbrook, whose minutes had started innocently enough with three assists, started playing sloppily. Michael Malone pulled the plug and entered Braun after just eight minutes as the backup point guard. Then, Gordon and Porter immediately went on an 11-0 run by pushing the pace and knocking down jumpers. Braun made a mistake while dunking in transition. The starting five seized back control, even with Murray back on the periphery.