Jokic's triple-double leads Nuggets past Timberwolves for seventh straight win

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and three other players had 23 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to their seventh straight victory on Saturday night, 123-112 over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Tim Hardaway Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray had 23 points apiece, while Gordon also had 10 rebounds and Murray dished out 12 assists.

Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards scored 26 points each to lead the Timberwolves, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.

Minnesota led 60-55 at halftime, but the Nuggets outscored the Timberwolves in the third and fourth quarters to pull away.

A glitch in the NBA’s courtside statistics system froze the stat-keeping program late in the third quarter at Target Center. After the game, a Timberwolves employee told The Associated Press the system crashed when statisticians tried to input a double-foul called with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter.

The final statistics were made available several hours after the conclusion of the game.

The Nuggets were missing both of their starting forwards, Christian Braun (left ankle sprain) and Cam Johnson (right biceps strain), who were both injured during Denver's win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Braun is expected to be sidelined at least six weeks.

The Northwest Division rivals have met in the playoffs twice in the last three years. The Timberwolves swept the regular-season series last year, but Denver has won both meetings this season. The teams last played in Minneapolis in October. Edwards and Jaylen Clark were out with injuries, and the Nuggets overcame an eight-point halftime deficit with a 45-point third quarter en route to a 127-114 win.

Nuggets: Host Chicago on Monday.

Timberwolves: Host Dallas on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) works toward the basket as Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots as Denver Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) works toward the basket as Denver Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) dribbles down the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) goes up for a dunk during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that three patients with suspected hantavirus cases have been evacuated from an affected cruise ship and are on their way to the Netherlands.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. health agency is working with the operators of the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew.

“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” he wrote on his X account.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak and which is stuck of the coast of Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board was waiting Wednesday to head to Spain’s Canary Islands. Meanwhile, health authorities in South Africa and Switzerland identified a strain of the virus that can be transmitted between humans in rare cases in three cases.

Authorities in Switzerland announced Wednesday that a man who returned from South America and traveled on the cruise ship has tested positive for the virus and is receiving treatment.

Three passengers have died and at least five people have been sickened by hantavirus on board the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship. Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings. There have been three laboratory-confirmed cases.

The ship left Argentina on April 1 on an Atlantic cruise and was scheduled to include stops in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other locations. However, the itinerary may have changed because of the situation on board.

Spain’s Health Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday that it would receive the MV Hondius vessel in the Canary Islands after a request from the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

But for now it remains marooned off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation off West Africa in the Atlantic. The World Health Organization said passengers are isolating in their cabins.

South African health authorities said they identified the Andes strain of hantavirus in two passengers who were on the ship.

The World Health Organization says the Andes virus, a specific species of hantavirus, is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile.

The Andes virus can be spread between people, though this is rare and the spread of the disease is typically contained because it would spread only through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or sharing food, experts say.

The South African Department of Health said in a report that the information came from tests performed on the passengers after they were removed from the ship and flown to South Africa.

One of the passengers, a British man, is in intensive care in a South African hospital. Tests were performed on the other passenger posthumously after she died in South Africa.

A statement from the Federal Office of Public Health said that the man “returned to Switzerland after traveling on the cruise ship on which there were a number of hantavirus cases.” It said his case also involved the Andes virus.

It said he had returned from a trip to South America with his wife at the end of April. After noticing symptoms, he went to the University Hospital Zurich after consulting with his doctor and was immediately placed in isolation.

The patient’s wife hasn’t shown any symptoms but is self-isolating as a precaution, the statement said.

The public health office said that “there is currently no risk to the Swiss public.”

The WHO said in a social media post that the man responded to “an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event” and went to the hospital.

The cruise ship will be welcomed to Spain’s Canary Islands, according to Spanish authorities, as the vessel waited off the coast of West Africa for a third day Wednesday for sick passengers to be evacuated.

However, the regional president of Spain’s Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said Wednesday that he was worried the arrival of the ship could put the local population at risk and demanded an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

“Neither the populace nor the government of the Canary Islands can rest assured because it is clear that the danger to the population is real,” Clavijo told Onda Cero radio.

Medical evacuation teams were on standby Wednesday morning in the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.

Associated Press journalists nearby saw a boat approach the ship on Tuesday night before turning back soon after. It was not clear what happened, or whether that was the evacuation team.

A night view of the MV Hondius cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)

An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)