For the first time this season, the Timberwolves played New Orleans without Anthony Edwards. For the first time, in this third meeting between the two teams, the Timberwolves played a Pelicans lineup that included Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum.
The result: New Orleans 121, Timberwolves 107.
Edwards’ hip injury kept him out of action. But McCollum and Williamson were action-packed. The two combined for 59 points on 21-for-32 shooting as the Pelicans (13-11) ended a six-game winning streak for the Wolves (17-5).
And even though the Wolves bench — augmented by the return of Jaden McDaniels and Jordan McLaughlin — had a big game, the Wolves much-vaunted defense let them down.
New Orleans, more physical from start to finish, shot 49.4% overall and had a 40-19 edge on free-throw attempts.
Having cut a 15-point Pelicans lead to 90-86 entering the fourth quarter, the Wolves were outscored 9-0 to start the final period and never recovered.
Williamson bullied his way to 36 points. McCollum had 23, Brandon Ingram had 20 and Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
For the Wolves, Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, but only two points the rest of the way after Herb Jones began defending against him. Towns fouled out with 2 minutes, 35 seconds left. Mike Conley had 17 points. Rudy Gobert had eight points, eight rebounds and four fouls. The Wolves bench — led by McDaniels (12 points), Naz Reid (17) and Shake Milton (12) — scored 53 points.
But it wasn’t enough to stop a Pelicans team that responded to the spanking the Lakers gave them in the final of the In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas.
The first quarter ended in a 29-all tie. For the Wolves it was all Towns early, the Wolves bench late. For the Pelicans it was Williamson and McCollum.
Towns scored 10 of the Wolves’ first 13 points in taking an early 13-12 lead. Then it was the Wolves bench, with Kyle Anderson, Reid and Milton combining for 12 of the Wolves’ final 16 points in the quarter.
In the second quarter, the Timberwolves defense took a rest. The Pelicans shot 12-for-24 overall in the quarter, four of nine on three-pointers and finished the quarter on an 18-7 run. Ingram — who scored eight points in the second — punctuated that run with a banked-in, buzzer-beating three-pointer to put the Pelicans up 59-52 at the half.
Towns had another five points and four rebounds in the second quarter on 2-for-2 shooting. The rest of the Timberwolves shot 8-for-22, made only two of eight three-pointers and scored 18 points. Williamson (15), McCollum (12) and Ingram (10) were all in double figures by halftime on a combined 14-for-25 shooting and the Pelicans had 32 points in the paint.
The Pelicans grew their lead to 15 midway through the third quarter before the Wolves bench led a comeback. Beginning with consecutive threes by Reid, the Wolves ended the quarter on a 23-12 run to pull within 90-86, a run ended by McLaughlin’s 49-foot, buzzer-beating three.
But that was as close as the Wolves got.
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.