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Minnesota Timberwolves beat New Orleans Pelicans 120-110: Instant reactions

By Dylan Jackson

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 23: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter of the game at Target Center on January 23, 2021 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 (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 23: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter of the game at Target Center on January 23, 2021 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 (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Timberwolves got a much-needed, shorthanded win against a Pelicans team that struggled to get Zion Williamson going.

110. 69. 120. 86. Final

The Minnesota Timberwolves were without both of their stars for their win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night – a stark contrast from their loss to the Atlanta Hawks on the first part of their back-to-back on Friday night.

After announcing that they were resting D’Angelo Russell for Saturday’s game, the Timberwolves saw some flack for the decision given Russell played only 21 minutes the night before – in addition to underperforming over the course of Minnesota’s 3-11 start. Again, though, it wouldn’t matter, as the Timberwolves played really, really good team basketball.

The Timberwolves’ best play tonight was Josh Okogie, who only scored nine points on eight shots, but was crucial down the stretch and made plays on defense consistently throughout the game. He finished with five steals.

The Timberwolves had six players score double digits on Saturday, with three of those players coming off of the bench: Jordan McLaughlin, Jarrett Culver, and Anthony Edwards. Another player that impressed tonight was Na Reid, who scored 20 points on ten shots, as well as grabbing four boards and two assists.

After having a multi-game stretch drawing immense criticism, Ryan Saunders was much improved as far as coaches go – the Timberwolves looked organized (at least more so than the beginning part of this year) on offense and rotations were more sound than usual.

The Timberwolves will soon have both of their star players back, and stealing games like the one tonight will certainly help if the team is serious about making a run at a top-10 seed, which would be enough to make a play-in game. It’s still incredibly early in the season, and games like tonight are the reason that it still seems possible.

Next. Is the Russell-Rubio backcourt doomed to fail?. dark

The Timberwolves next game is against the Golden State Warriors on Monday, January 25th at 9:00 PM CT.

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