NEW ORLEANS _ One night after losing a home game to Washington they couldn't finish in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves went to New Orleans on Wednesday and won convincingly, 120-102, at Smoothie King Center.
They built a 20-point, third-quarter lead and this time just kept on going, never allowing the Pelicans any real hope after their star big man Anthony Davis was ejected late in the second quarter.
Now 13-9, it was the Wolves' second victory in New Orleans in less than a month.
Seven Wolves players scored in double figures, led by Andrew Wiggins' 28 points.
He scored 13 of those points in the third quarter alone, when he made three 3-pointers and the Wolves led by as many as 20 points and never fewer than nine.
The Wolves trailed 19-12 early and still were behind by a point at 29-28 after the first quarter, but they used a 34-20 second quarter to take a 62-49 halftime lead.
They did so both with Davis in the game and gone from it.
They also did so by finding an answer to their bench dilemma by combining starters with reserves effectively to provide just enough rest for starters who played anywhere from 37 { minutes to 41 in Tuesday's home loss to Washington.
The Wolves led by as many as 20 points in the second half even though star center Karl-Anthony Towns was in foul trouble most of the night. He went to the bench with it late in the second quarter, again early in the third quarter and yet again when he picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter.
Backup center Gorgui Dieng simply stepped in and delivered a 36-minute, 19-point performance against a Pelicans team that played on with DeMarcus Cousins as their sole star big man once Davis was tossed from the game.
Davis was ejected with 4:11 left before halftime when he was called for not one, but two technical fouls for arguing with officials 16 seconds apart on the same possession.
Normally mild-mannered, Davis was whistled for that second technical after he thought he had cleanly blocked Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns and a referee disagreed.
He protested too much, even to the point that normally emotionally-charged teammate Cousins intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to calm him down.
