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Nuggets aim to stop slide versus Wolves

Mar 3, 2014 - 2:40 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Denver Nuggets will try to snap a five-game losing streak Monday night when they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets haven't won since a road victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 20. They've dropped four straight at home and are just 1-10 in their last 11 contests.

"It's not going to be easy to get off of this hump," Denver's Randy Foye said of the team's recent slide. "You just have to believe and you just have to keep fighting and doing the little things."

The Nuggets' fifth consecutive loss came at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center Saturday. Denver fell 102-96 on the night LaMarcus Aldridge returned from a groin injury.

The Blazers' margin reached as high as 13 in the third quarter before they settled for an 84-73 spread going into the fourth, where they were never seriously threatened.

Kenneth Faried tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, while Foye and Evan Fournier also scored 16. Wilson Chandler chipped in 14 points, followed by 12 from Darrell Arthur and 11 out of J.J. Hickson.

Ty Lawson missed his ninth game with a cracked rib and the Nuggets are 1-8 without him during this stretch.

The Wolves complete a five-game road trip Monday and the sojourn has been solid. Minnesota is 3-1 on the trip with wins over the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings.

The victory over the Kings was most recent, a 108-97 win Saturday night.

Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic each returned to the lineup on Saturday to lead the Timberwolves. Martin led the Wolves with 26 points and Pekovic contributed 20 points and nine rebounds in the win, Minnesota's fifth in its last six games.

Pekovic missed the most time of the two, sitting out the last 13 games with an injured ankle. Martin was held out of the last seven games with a broken left thumb.

Kevin Love registered a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double despite shooting 4- of-12 from the field in the victory.

"Right now we're fighting, we're fighting," said Corey Brewer. "We need to win every game basically to have a chance to get into the playoffs and right now we're winning."

The Wolves are 5 1/2 games behind the Suns and Dallas Mavericks for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets have taken two of three from Minnesota this season, including a victory in Denver on Nov. 15. Denver has won three of the last four in this series and is 7-1 in its last eight as the host against the T'Wolves.