Thursday DECEMBER 21, 2017 B DENVERPOST.

COM B THE DENVER POST 66 SECTION B

Skiing » 2B

SPORTS SHIFFRIN WINS AGAIN,

PACING PARALLEL SLALOM

AVALANCHE: Improved team is good enough to sniff the playoffs » 5B

TIMBERWOLVES 112, NUGGETS 104

Minnesota goes
to Towns, big time
Center and Jimmy Butler show Denver the door in 4th
By Gina Mizell The Denver Post
Jamal Murray sent the Pepsi
Center crowd into cheers
Wednesday night, converting a
four-point play, tough finishes in-
side and shot after shot from be-
yond the arc.
But Minnesota center Karl-An-
thony Towns sent the Nuggets
faithful into oohs and aahs. Then
Jimmy Butler delivered the
knockout blow.
Towns and Butler took over in
the fourth quarter for the Tim-
berwolves, scoring a combined
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic attempts to drive past Timberwolves 22 points in the period to lift Min-
forward Taj Gibson during the first quarter of Wednesday’s game nesota to a 112-104 win over Den-
at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets lost 112-104. John Leyba, The Denver Post ver.
The loss snaps the Nuggets’
eight-game home winning streak,
which started Nov. 4. It also gives
the Timberwolves a 1-0 edge over
division-rival Denver before a
quick rematch next Wednesday in
Minneapolis.
“We talked about it going in—
that’s what they do as a team.
They turn people over. They
score off those turnovers. It ig-
nites their break. It allows them to
score in the paint. We did an awful
job of valuing the ball tonight, and
that had a lot to do with us losing
the game,” coach Michael Malone
said. “When you’re beating your-
self like we did tonight, that’s very
frustrating and a tough one to
swallow.”
The Timberwolves outscored
Denver 32-20 in the fourth quar-
ter.
Towns, who finished with 25
points and 10 rebounds, had 11
points before five minutes had
ticked off the clock in the period,
including a thunderous dunk to
tie the game 91-91.
Then Butler, who also scored
25, closed the deal. He drilled a 3
to give the Timberwolves a four-
point lead with less than five min-
utes to play.
He sank two free throws to
make it a two-possession game
with less than two minutes left.
NUGGETS » 4B

Christen Cousins?
CU FOOTBALL

Valor
Christian Broncos may end up courting Sunday foe’s starting QB
QB comes
with “all
the tools”
Buffs coach MacIntyre
thrilled that Stenstrom
is among 19 signers
By Kyle Fredrickson
The Denver Post

BOULDER » Mike MacIntyre re-

calls first evaluating Blake Sten-
strom as a high school freshman
at Valor Christian High School,
and now more than four years lat-
er, the Colorado head football
coach continues to marvel at
Stenstrom’s talent.
“Blake has all the tools you’re
looking for in a quarterback,”
MacIntyre said. “He can make all
the throws and he’s an extremely
bright young man.”
That reverence, built over years
of recruitment, is mutual.
“CU was there from the begin-
ning,” Stenstrom said. “I really re-
spected that.”
On Wednesday, Stenstrom was
among 19 players who signed a
National Letter of Intent to play
for CU next fall. He’s ranked as
the No. 4 player in the state and is
the top-rated quarterback, per
24/7 Sports. However, Stenstrom
differs from his highly regarded
class of CU signees in one distinct
way.
From 2015 to 2016, he backed up
Michigan-bound quarterback Dy-
lan McCaffrey, and last season
Stenstrom split time under center
with another McCaffrey brother,
Luke, a 2019 prospect with a vari-
ety of Power 5 scholarship offers.
At no point during Stenstrom’s
Valor Christian career was he a QB Kirk Cousins, twice a franchise-tagged player in Washington, faces an array of options in the offseason. Associated Press file
full-time starter.
A reason for concern? It would By Nicki Jhabvala • The Denver Post Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “If you
appear not in today’s college watch the guy play, he’s poised, he’s smart,
RECRUIT » 3B he’s got a really strong arm. I wasn’t sure
Wednesdays are quarterback days at Dove Valley. The start- about that, but as I watch more tape, he can
er for the Broncos’ upcoming game speaks with the media and make every throw on the field. He’ s a tough
guy, also. He’s been hit a lot this year (38
talks about his game prep and expectations and, typically, all sacks). … He’s a special guy. It starts with
MORE SIGNINGS the same things that the guy before him said the week before. him offensively.”

WYOMING GAINS
Cousins, twice a franchise-tagged player
The Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks have been on a seemingly in Washington, faces an array of options in
A QUARTET OF endless rotation, so they know the routine. the upcoming offseason that include sign-
ing another tag, or a long-term contract that
COLO. COMMITS could possibly make him the highest-paid
But this week was different. This week, take a circuitous route to the season’s finish player in the game, or leaving as a free
Early signing day highlights the only true starting quarterback to talk line. But this weekend, they’ll get a front- agent.
program’s rising profile locally. was Kirk Cousins. row seat to one guy who could be an answer The Broncos could be in the market for a
»3B Cue the pundits: SURELY IT MEANS to their problems. free-agent quarterback and may end up as
COUSINS WILL BE A BRONCO! Maybe. Possibly. one of Cousins’ biggest suitors.
CSU: ESPN Top 300 player The Broncos have yet to decide their “I think he’s a special guy. Numbers-wise, Maybe. Possibly.
among 17 commitments. »3B starter for Sunday, let alone 2018, as they he’s top 10 in all the major QB categories,” COUSINS » 6B