MINNEAPOLIS _ It's just different, Jamal Crawford said.
Saturday morning, hours before the Wolves met New Orleans at Target Center, Crawford was asked why the Wolves, up and down on the road so often this season, were becoming pretty much unbeatable at home.
"We have a different belief, for whatever reason," Crawford said. "I think the fans have been great, the city has been great. But we have a different belief here. We really get after it."
They did again Saturday in a 118-107 victory over the Pelicans, the Wolves' 12th straight home win. The Wolves scored the game's first nine points, led by 18 not long thereafter and held on for the wire-to-wire win.
On the night before the Super Bowl, before a crowd once again sprinkled with celebrities, the Wolves (34-22) ended a streak of having played 20 games in 35 nights by completing the four-game season sweep of the Pelicans (28-24).
It wasn't' easy. Every time it appeared the Wolves would run away and hide, the Pelicans would reel the back in.
Up 18 in the third, the Pelicans pulled within 10 on Jrue Holiday's basket with about 4 minutes left in the game. But Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 3-pointer _ his third of the game _ then Jimmy Butler stole the ball and scored to put the Wolves back up 15, essentially icing the game.
Butler finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Towns had 22 points and 16 rebounds. Both Andrew Wiggins and Tyus Jones scored 15 points.
The Pelicans got 38 points from star Anthony Davis, giving him 81 points in back-to-back nights. Nikola Mirotic _ making his New Orleans debut after being acquired in a trade with Chicago _ scored 18 off the bench.
The Wolves jumped all over the Pelicans to start the game. That included a 9-0 run to start the quarter. After the Pelicans scored four straight out of a timeout, the Wolves responded with a 15-4 run to take a 26-8 lead on Towns' three-point play to take a 26-8 lead.
At that point the Pelicans had hit on just three of their first 15 shots.
That didn't last.
With Davis leading the way, the Pelicans hit nine of their final 13 shots in the quarter, closing it with a 21-11 run to pull within 37-29. Davis scored 19 of those 29 points on 8 for 13 shooting, including a 3-pointer.
The Pelicans pulled within 37-31 early in the second before Tyus Jones' eight points led a 17-6 run that put the Wolves up 54-37 halfway though the quarter.
By this point the Pelicans had found their stride on offense, but the Wolves were efficient enough to keep them at arm's length. Gibson's basket to end the half put the Wolves up 66-53.
The Wolves controlled much of the third quarter, pushing the lead to 18 with 4 minutes left in the quarter on Gibson's basket.
Then, with Mirotic getting hot, he scored eight third-quarter points and the Pelicans closed to within 12. But Towns put-back jam at the end of the quarter put the Wolves up 14 entering the fourth.
