Karl Anthony-Towns had 28 points and 10 rebounds as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves won their fourth consecutive game by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 110-96 on Monday night.
Anthony Edwards added 18 points, Jarred Vanderbilt had 16 points and 11 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell scored 11, and Patrick Beverley and Jaden McDaniels had 10 points each for the Timberwolves, who have won each game during the winning streak by a double-figure margin.
Willy Hernangomez had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14, Jonas Valanciunas and Josh Hart had 13 each and Kira Lewis Jr. had 10 to lead the Pelicans.
The New Orleans bench outscored the team’s starters 51-45.
The Timberwolves outscored the Pelicans 38-21 in the second quarter on their way to beating New Orleans for the second time in three meetings this season.
Russell made a 3-pointer as the Wolves scored the first five points of the third quarter to take a 21-point lead.
The Pelicans trimmed the lead to 16 on a 3-pointer by Garrett Temple before Towns’ dunk and Beverley’s two 3-pointers gave Minnesota a 79-55 lead.
Herbert Jones’ dunk cut the lead to 89-69 at the end of the period and Brandon Ingram and Alexander-Walker each made a 3-pointer and the Pelicans got within 91-76 early in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota answered by scoring the next 11 points to take command.
Towns scored the Wolves first eight points of the game and added another basket as they took an 18-9 lead.
They led by nine points twice more before Hart had four points during a 7-0 run by the Pelicans, who pulled even at 24 on two free throws by Ingram.
Malik Beasley broke the tie with a layup for Minnesota, but Lewis answered with a 3-pointer that gave New Orleans a 27-26 lead near the end of the first quarter.
McDaniels made two 3-pointers and Beasley added five points during a 15-2 run to start the second quarter that gave the Wolves a 43-31 lead.
Towns scored eight points down the stretch as the Wolves took a 66-50 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media