Wolves win in crunch time again

Don’t look now, but the Timberwolves are on something of a hot streak.

They’ve won two straight and five of their last seven games overall and for the fourth straight at home. For the second straight game the Wolves won a game decided by four or fewer points. This after going 0-for-10 to start the season in that category.

“We’re trying to establish a home court,’’ Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We want to make it tough for people to come in here. We have to understand, you don’t win because you’re at home, but because of what you put into winning.’’

They did tonight. Denver shot 51.2 percent for the game, but 45.5 percent in the second half, 40.0 percent in the fourth quarter, and just 3-for-12 after taking a nine-point lead with 6:06 left in the game.

The Wolves responded with a 20-8 run.

The Wolves have now won four straight home games since the fall of 2012.

Here are some thoughts on the game:

--Starting in place of Ricky Rubio, who was away because of personal reasons, rookie Kris Dunn had 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting, nine assists, eight rebounds, three steals and a block. He was very effective defensively after Thibodeau put he and Tyus Jones together in the backcourt down the stretch for a second straight game.

-Jones, too, was effective. Certainly more late than early. He finished with nine points and four assists off the bench in 19:20 of playing time. He played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, was a plus-3 and scored six of those points, one a very big three-pointer.

--Towns seemed to really get motivated by his matchup with Nikola Jokic, another young center with a myriad of skills. Towns had 32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks to 18 points and eight rebounds for Jokic.

--Andrew Wiggins was again big down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, with three rebounds and a steal.

--Zach LaVine continues to struggle since returning from a hip injury that kept him out of two games. He had four points on 2-for-8 shooting missed all three three-pointers and watched the final 5:40 from the bench when Thibodeau put Dunn in for him.