DENVER - Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame poor play in the first three quarters to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-94 on Friday night.
Andre Miller added 16 points and Ruben Patterson had 14 for the Nuggets, who ended a two-game losing streak as they try to win their first division title since the 1987-88 season.
They in-creased their lead over Utah to six games in the Northwest Division, with Utah playing the Los Angeles Clippers later Friday.
Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their 11th straight game on the road.
The Nuggets struggled on both ends of the court for most of the first three quarters. They missed alley-oops and easy shots under the basket. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, shot 50.8 percent from the floor by the end of the third quarter, compared with 38.6 by Denver.
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But late in the third, with Minnesota leading 76-70, the Nuggets turned it around.
Denver's defense tightened, forcing a 24-second violation and three missed shots by Minnesota to end the quarter. Miller added a block of a dunk attempt by Ricky Davis.
Greg Buckner scored five straight points to pull Denver within 76-75 to start the fourth.
The rally continued in the fourth quarter, with the Nuggets forcing two straight turnovers and getting two dunks by Marcus Camby and Reggie Evans to take a 79-76 lead with 10:53 remaining.
Denver would never trail again, with Patterson scoring five points during a 11-5 run to give the Nuggets a 90-81 lead with 6:59 remaining.
Patterson, credited with giving the Nuggets added energy since his trade from Portland last month, received his second technical and was kicked out of the game after arguing with Rashad McCants with 4:24 remaining. McCants fouled out about a minute later.
At the end of the game, Reggie Evans had to be restrained from referee Jim Clark, after receiving a technical with 7.3 seconds.
NOTES: Nuggets F Eduardo Najera missed the game with soreness in his right knee. He played 3 minutes Wednesday against Utah after missing the previous four games because of the injury. ... Anthony scored 30 or more points 10 times in March, including eight of the last 10 games. ... The Timberwolves last road win was on Feb. 6 victory at Phoenix.
