Ty Lawson had 23 points and nine assists and Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points as the Denver Nuggets held on to defeat the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves 115-113 on Saturday night.

Kevin Love scored a career-high 43 points - including 17 in the fourth quarter - and had 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves (6-22), who have lost 11 straight on the road and 15 of their last 18 overall.

Love leads the NBA in rebounding by a wide margin at 15.6 per game.

J.R. Smith and Al Harrington scored 18 and 15 off the bench, respectively, while Arron Afflalo had 17 points for the Nuggets (16-10), who led 62-50 at halftime and by as many as 20 in the third quarter.

Smith’s 3-pointer gave the Nuggets a 115-106 lead with 1:12 left.

Lawson is starting in place of Chauncey Billups, who has missed the last three games with a sore wrist. The Nuggets are 4-1 when Lawson starts this season.

Michael Beasley finished with 17 points but was 0 for 8 in the first half. He scored 33 points in Minnesota’s 107-102 loss at Portland on Friday night.

The Timberwolves are allowing an NBA-worst 109.89 points per game.