MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves never quite knew how to handle it when they had success last season. They often followed a win with a loss and usually multiple losses at that. Only three times did they win two or more games.
That made one of the main questions entering Saturday: how would the Wolves handle a little bit of success in the season-opener Wednesday?
Pretty basketball this was not, but the Wolves did indeed notch their second victory with a 96-89 win over the Pelicans.
The Wolves had to get through the last 6 minutes, 36 seconds without Karl-Anthony Towns, who fouled out on an offensive foul against frequent foil Jonas Valanciunas. Towns vehemently disagreed with the call and slammed a chair behind the basket, drawing a technical with the Wolves ahead 83-75.
They led 88-81 before the Pelicans cut it to four. D'Angelo Russell, who struggled most of the night in shooting 5 for 12, then hit an anxiety-relieving 3-pointer. It was Russell who then banked in a 3 from the top of the key that allowed the crowd to roar with 24.6 seconds remaining as the Wolves went ahead 94-87.
Russell finished with 12 while Towns had 25 and Anthony Edwards 19 and nine rebounds on a night the Wolves struggled to get offensive traction but their defense helped save them. The Wolves shot 41% but New Orleans shot just 35% and committed 30 turnovers. The Wolves' 20 turnovers add up to 50 combined for the night.
The first quarter had nearly identical bookends in terms of structure. To start, the Wolves opened an 8-0 lead, only to get sloppy on offense and allow New Orleans to score the next 12 points. The Wolves' defensive intensity was there, as they forced the Pelicans into eight first-quarter turnovers, but they had six themselves in the quarter, which allowed New Orleans, who was playing for the second time in as many nights, to hang around.
Towns provided most of the offense with 15 points as he played the entire quarter. Russell got off to a slow start for the Wolves as he shot 0 for 5 to begin the game. Patrick Beverley checked into the game for his first Wolves action and the defensive intensity took another jump. A Beverley 3 and layup from Edwards gave the Wolves a 28-19 lead, but like the beginning of the quarter they couldn't quite hold it. New Orleans scored the last eight points of the quarter to make it 28-27 headed into the second quarter.
In the second quarter came a defensive sequence the Wolves might want to save and reference when they're struggling. A Brandon Ingram 3 made the score 33-30 New Orleans with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the quarter, but the Pelicans would not score again until the 3:58 mark, a stretch of 6:23. That included eight Pelicans misses and six turnovers, which contributed to 16 New Orleans turnovers for the half. The Wolves drew a couple offensive fouls during that sequence along with intercepting a few errant passes.
The Wolves scored the next 13 points and led by as many as 17 before going into the locker room ahead 54-41. Edwards finished the half with 14 while the Wolves held New Orleans to 34% shooting. The Wolves came out in the second half and nearly did the opposite of their strong second quarter stretch.
They went 4:15 without scoring and had just three points over 6:25. New Orleans also crashed the glass to the tune of eight offensive rebounds in the quarter. The fact that Towns hit the bench at the 6:00 mark with his fourth foul didn't help both of these issues. New Orleans slowly clawed back to a 63-63 draw.
The Wolves' saving grace in the quarter was the Pelicans shot just 9 for 23 and had nine turnovers in the quarter. That allowed the Wolves to still carry a 69-67 lead to the fourth. The Wolves got back on track to start the fourth as Towns returns and Jordan McLaughlin got his first minutes as Russell struggled. They opened the quarter on an 11-1 run before Towns fouled out but were able to save the game.
