NBA
Timberwolves Get Big Win Over The Pelicans 107-100
The Minnesota Timberwolves were home at the Target Center on Wednesday night to play the New Orleans Pelicans. It was a “Battle of the Bigs” game where Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis were going head to head. The two University of Kentucky alums were slugging it out. ESPN also made sure they nationally televised this matchup.
Obviously, this was also a big game for the Timberwolves because two of the players involved in the Jimmy Butler deal, Robert Covington and Dario Saric, debuted with the team. Questions hovered around who would start the game out though. Covington got the nod to start and Saric was first off the bench.
Timberwolves Taking First Bite
The Timberwolves were playing with an upbeat energy that hasn’t been there all season. As a result of that, smiles were floating from face to face among the players. The cloud of the Butler saga had left and it was coming up all rainbows for them.
To start off the game, the Timberwolves, especially Towns, were red hot. Towns was making shots from anywhere on the court. Lay-ups, fadeaways, 3-pointers, you name it. The shots were hitting the bottom of the net for him and the rest of the squad. Towns would finish the night off with 25 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Timberwolves also finished the first quarter on a run and a score of 38-28.
However, the second quarter was a different story for the Timberwolves. They cooled off from the field but still remained aggressive. Ultimately, that aggressiveness led to a 20 point lead at one point in the quarter. The Pelicans defense were having issues figuring out who to guard at times with all of the Timberwolves players confidence rising. As a result, the Timberwolves led the Pelicans at halftime 67-54.
Pelicans Resurgence
The second or third quarter has been an issue for the Timberwolves this season and on Wednesday night it didn’t change. As a result, the Pelicans defense, led by Davis, tightened up. Towns’ hot shooting from the first half sizzled away for the quarter. Andrew Wiggins, who by this point was having a very solid game, also struggled. This was a moment fans were worried about is how the Timberwolves can handle teams coming back.
E’Twuan Moore had a quiet killer performance for the night, especially in the second and third quarter. He finished off the night with 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Davis started to take control more in the second half. The Timberwolves lost a good chunk of their comfy lead after the third quarter with a score of 85-81.
It was now or never for the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter. They didn’t want another train wreck fall apart like has happened many times when they held leads. Who was going to step up for the Timberwolves? Wiggins and Towns answered that. Wiggins went off in the fourth, making two 3-pointers, and one of the most emphatic poster dunks of the season over Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic also got kicked in the groin in the process which added insult to injury. Wiggins finished the night off 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and three steals.
The Timberwolves disciplined defense at the end, plus some big plays by their stars, helped them earn the win. The final score was 107-100. They’re 2-0 since Butler was traded.
Numbers For The Night
The two newcomers for the Timberwolves had promising games. Covington led all Timberwolves players with 41 minutes played. He logged in 13 points, 7 rebounds, two steals, and a block to go along with 3-three pointers. Saric, coming off the bench, scored a modest 9 points, 3 rebounds, and two steals. Jeff Teague also had a solid night with 14 points, and season high 14 assists with it.
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