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Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves blowout Pelicans

By Ben Beecken

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 6: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 6, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 6: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 6, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Timberwolves stopped their two-game losing streak with a dominant win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night at Target Center.

86. Final. 98. 69. 116

The Timberwolves defeated the Pelicans for the third time in as many tries this season with a relatively easy win on Saturday night.

Minnesota built a lead as big as 34 points in the third quarter before they allowed New Orleans to draw as close as 17 early in the fourth quarter. The game was never really in doubt, although it did keep Tom Thibodeau from getting his starters much additional rest.

This was a balanced effort from the Wolves on offense, and an overall impressive showing on the defensive end of the floor. Early on, they were fortunate in that the Pelicans missed a handful of open 3-point attempts, but as the game progressed the defense became more stifling from Minnesota, and DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis became visibly frustrated.

The Wolves did a solid job scrambling in broken floor situations and recovering to contest jumpers. They were also competitive on the glass, winning the battle by a 47-38 margin.

On offense, there wasn’t a single dominant effort from any individual Wolves player. Karl-Anthony Towns was efficient, scoring 21 points on 11 shots. Andrew Wiggins was solid all-around, but was not efficient, using 22 shots to get his 20 points. Jimmy Butler had another great all-around game of his own, scoring 21 points on 15 shots while adding eight assists and seven rebounds.

The Wolves bench was good, too. It was especially evident in a strong second quarter stretch from Aaron Brooks, Jamal Crawford, Gorgui Dieng, and Nemanja Bjelica. Minnesota will need more of this as the season rolls along, of course, but this was an encouraging performance from their reserves.

This was an important win, after a pair of tough road losses this week and a tough matchup against Cleveland on Monday. It was also the first game of a five-game homestand, and it was good to see them start it off on the right foot.

Tweet of the Night

Key Takeaways

  • Towns continues to play much, much better on defense. The improvement in his all-around game has been fun to watch, and here’s hoping it’s true, measured improvement and not simply a blip on the radar.
  • The Wolves defense as a whole is much improved of late. Even in the road losses this past week, the defense was solid for the most part, and they were stifling for much of the game on Saturday against the Pelicans. It was really only in the fourth quarter, with a 20+ lead and players tired on the second half of a back-to-back set, that the defense really faltered.
  • Wiggins started this game extremely assertive, hoisting eight quick shots in the opening frame. He was great in the paint and active on the glass, but scuffled from outside the lane and ended up having one of his classically inefficient games.

Player of the Game

Karl-Anthony Towns: 21 points (7-11 FG, 3-3 3P, 4-4 FT), 16 rebounds, 3 assists, one steal, one block, 2 turnovers

Towns had an awesome all-around game. There was a scary moment early in the second half when he was landed on by two Pelicans players and he exited the game rubbing his knee, but after a short stint on the bench he returned and continued to play well.

Towns was handed a tough task once again against Davis and Cousins, and KAT and Taj Gibson did what they needed to do. Davis shot just 5-of-12 from the floor and had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Cousins put up 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting while getting to the line 10 times and pulling down 15 rebounds.

Notable Box Score Lines

  • Jimmy Butler: 21 points (7-15 FG, 2-2 3P, 5-6 FT), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, one steal, 2 turnovers
  • Andrew Wiggins: 20 points (9-22 FG, 1-4 3P, 1-1 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists
  • Gorgui Dieng: 14 points (6-9 FG, 2-2 3P), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal, one block
  • Taj Gibson: 15 points (5-9 FG, 0-1 3P, 5-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, one turnover

Next: 5 trade ideas for Nikola Mirotic

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves get to stay home to play more than one home game on a homestand for the first time in a long time, although they’ll have to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CT.

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