Karl-Anthony Towns scored 30 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated New Orleans 113-108 in Minneapolis on Sunday to move past the Pelicans into eighth place entering the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Anthony Edwards added 26 points and 13 rebounds, Taurean Prince scored 18 points and Mike Conley had 17 point and seven assists for the Timberwolves (42-40), who tied the Pelicans’ regular-season record and won the season series 2-1. They will visit the No. 7 Lakers in a play-in game Tuesday night.
New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram had 42 points and 12 rebounds, CJ McCollum scored 23 points and Trey Murphy III had 20. Jonas Valanciunas added 11 points and 18 rebounds for the Pelicans, who will be the ninth seed and host the No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder in an elimination play-in game Wednesday.
The Pelicans scored the first six points of the third quarter and the Wolves countered with the next seven to get within 61-54.
McCollum made consecutive baskets to push the lead to 11 before Edwards scored nine points help Minnesota pull even at 74.
Ingram’s jumper broke the tie with a basket and he and McCollum combined for New Orleans’ final 14 points of the period. Wendell Moore Jr.’s tip-in with two seconds remaining left helped the Wolves trim the Pelicans’ lead to 85-83 entering the fourth quarter.
Towns, who missed most of the third quarter after committing his fourth foul, made three 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the fourth to give Minnesota a 92-87 lead.
Murphy tied the score at 95 on a dunk, the score was tied again and the lead changed hands four times before Prince’s two free throws gave the Wolves a 105-102 lead.
Ingram made two free throws, but New Orleans missed its next four shots and turned the ball over twice. McConley’s free throw and Edwards’ three-point play gave Minnesota a 109-104 lead with 57 seconds left.
The Pelicans got within three and had the ball, but Murphy’s awkward 3-pointer was an airball with 6.2 seconds left and Conley made two free throws.
–Field Level Media
