The Minnesota Timberwolves bounced back during their home back-to-back with wins against the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. After a gust of wind hit their sails in the form of those two wins, which included some of the prettiest basketball they’ve played all season in the 4th quarter against the Spurs, they travel to New Orleans for two consecutive matchups against the Pelicans. With two straight against New Orleans and a Saturday night date with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Timberwolves have a chance to build on the two wins against teams that are struggling so far this season.
The New Orleans Pelicans had injury added to insult today after Shams Charania reported that star forward Zion Williamson will be re-evaluated in three weeks with a right adductor injury. The Pelicans are 3-18 this season and do not own their first-round pick next year after a 2025 draft day trade.
Despite this news and New Orleans’ struggles this season, this is not the time to let the foot off the gas after stacking some building blocks for the Timberwolves. The Sacramento Kings game from last Monday should be the warning, even if this team has largely been great against sub-.500 teams this season.
Rudy Gobert helped to set the tone early on as the Pelicans were without starting center Yves Missi. He played well to start the game and had 10 points in the first quarter as a Timberwolves run led to a 31-25 advantage after one. The second quarter was abysmal for the Minnesota defense.
They let up too many easy looks around the basket. Despite a Naz Reid flurry, a Pelicans 43-point quarter and 15-0 run gave them the lead 68-58 lead heading into halftime. It was a track meet to start the third as both teams were getting up and down without much resistance. New Orleans started to win the track meet, outworking the Timberwolves on both ends of the floor.
It got bleak for the Wolves early on in the third, as the Pelicans were running circles around them. As is the case much of the time, Ant kicked it into high gear to close the period, knocking down shots and getting to the rim with ease. The increased energy helped the Wolves get back into it, but New Orleans held the 103-100 lead after three.
It was a back-and-forth start to the 4th quarter, but the Timberwolves still could not gain any traction. This one was headed to clutch time. It looked bleak as the Pelicans took a four-point lead with just over a minute to go. After a miss at the rim, Donte DiVincenzo made up for his mistake with a steal and then a bucket from Jaden with 35 seconds. After a stop, Anthony Edwards got the ball in his hands down two with seven seconds remaining. He dissected the defense and took it to the rim to tie the game. A Derik Queen miss led to extra hoops.
Julius Randle was the star of overtime, scoring eight points and taking advantage of his mismatch with ease. Despite the lack of defense, the Timberwolves did enough to take the 149-142 win.
The Timberwolves seemed lackadaisical for much of the first half of the game. This gave way to a ten-point Pelicans lead that got up to 15 in the third quarter. It was a tough watch, Wolves fans, as they had a massive upper hand in talent but couldn’t seem to turn it on. It took until midway through the third quarter for there to be signs of life. This can be frustrating to see, but a win is a win, and they were able to turn it on enough to get the win in this one.
Anthony Edwards deserves every superlative in the book for this one. While he seemed a bit passive early on in the game, that all went away the second the third quarter started. He was electric over the last 24 minutes and overtime, where he played the entire stretch. Getting to the basket with ease, knocking down threes, and asserting his will on that end of the floor.
All of this occurred despite the Pelicans’ main strategy being to double him the second he crossed half-court. This culminated in him scoring 44 points on 16/30 shooting while adding five rebounds and 4 assists. He also tied the game – took his time, took what the defense gave him, and effectively made the right decision. His growing ability to understand and be able to assert himself correctly during these games has been a joy to watch.
Donte DiVincenzo Provides a Spark
When you think of Donte DiVincenzo providing a boost, you think it is from beyond the arc. That was not the case in this one. DDV was just 5/15 from downtown, multiple ticks below his season average, and yet all the small things are why he made one of the key takeaways in this one.
While he was a part of the lethargic start, he was also the biggest catalyst for the solution. This started in the third quarter while the Timberwolves were crawling back – he crashed the offensive boards and set up Ant for an open corner three, which he knocked down. He also provided a couple of blocks that helped the Wolves get out in transition. No matter what anyone says, when the shortest guy on the floor gets a block, everyone gets hyped.
His biggest contribution in this regard was two massive steals he had in crunch time. With the Timberwolves down four (right after he had a bad missed layup), he immediately hustled back to pick the pocket of Jose Alvarado, which led to a Jaden McDaniels bucket to get the lead back to two.
Then, in overtime, he intercepts a pass as the Wolves were up three, which set up an Ant layup to push the lead to two possessions. These are the types of plays you need on nights like this, and Donte was there to provide them all.
The Timberwolves aren’t going anywhere… literally. They will run it back right in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Thursday night at 7 PM CST on FanDuel Sports North.