Timberwolves 134, Pelicans 93: A Needed Confidence Builder

The Wolves got back on track against a depleted Pelicans squad, brought forth an emotional moment, and awoke a couple key players from their slumps in the process.

You may exhale.

Dropping Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans as a 13-point favorite may have had you rightfully concerned about Friday’s re-run. This time, however, NOLA was doing it without Zion Williamson; a welcomed occurence for a Minnesota Timberwolves team that seemingly always gets killed by the former Duke one-and-done.

No Zion? Try being favored by 15.5 for Friday’s game. You can’t mess that one up, right?

They didn’t. In fact, not only was an important win and avoidance of disaster achieved given the timing of the season, but it proved crucial as well to get key players out of shooting slumps that were submarining the Wolves in losses to bad teams.

Before the ball was tipped, however, word got out that Joe Ingles would be getting his first start since January 30, 2022 when he was with the Utah Jazz. Something you’d expect to see? No way. But Ingles’ family was in town from Orlando, and his son, who’s on the autism spectrum, never saw him play in a game in person. Head Coach Chris Finch pulled a tear-jerking move by changing that on Friday.

“It was emotional…sometimes you have to do the human thing; if we’re gonna do it, let’s do it in style,” he said. “It gave us just the right boost we needed and brought the energy.”

Finch was emotional talking about the decision afterward. It’s no secret that Ingles can still play in this league, and that it wasn’t charitable. It seemed as though it may have just been a matter of perfect timing meeting the perfect opportunity for the moment.

Finch drew a play up for Ingles for the first play of the game and generated a wide-open floater, but it rolled out. He ended up finishing 0-3 from the field with no points, but the moment was something that brought everyone, including his teammates on the floor, to a lens of something bigger than just the game that was being played.

Should we talk about the actual game? I guess.

The win ended up being decisive in the end, but it didn’t necessarily start out that way. The Wolves committed nine first-half turnovers and got careless with the ball in closing out the first half. Paired with recklessness on the offensive end was continued questionable defense and head-scratchingly good shotmaking by New Orleans.

Despite it all, they carried a 14-point lead into halftime and would go on to sharpen up the offense from the start of the second point on. They committed just four turnovers in the second half, outscored New Orleans by 27, and cleared the bench by the 8-minute mark in the fourth quarter.

“Ant and Julius were at the heart of it as they always have been,” Finch said. “Defensively we were way more disruptive”

The defensive disruptiveness and offensive ramp-up captured momentum back for a team that desperately needed it; and pulled players out of their respective slumps that will be needed down the stretch.

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Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Are They…Back?

What do Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, and Anthony Edwards all have in common?

They found their way out of recent slumps that they’ve gotten into shooting the basketball and playing defense at the expense of a depleted Pelicans team on Friday night.

Reid specifically has had an up-and-down March. He’s shooting 40 percent from the field during the month and has shot under 40 percent in three of his last four games. He began Friday shooting just 1-4, but ramped it up at the end of the second quarter, closing the period with five points, and making crucial passes to Rudy Gobert in getting him involved in the offense. Reid finished the night shooting respectably from the field but got his rhythm back offensively and wrapped the night with 15 points, five rebounds, and six assists.

Friday specifically belonged to the aforementioned Gobert. Benched at the end of the game on Monday against the Indiana Pacers for his lack of ability to rebound the basketball and defend the paint, the Frenchman came back emphatically on Friday with a vintage “I won’t let us lose” defensive performance.

“Our urgency and ball movement [were there],” Gobert said afterward. “It shouldn’t, but it really does impact our defense…I felt like we were really connected on both ends of the floor.”

Gobert finished the night with a trademark 15-point, 11-rebound double-double with a team-high plus 34, forcing his usual bushel of “maybe not” at the rim.

“When we compete like we did tonight, it’s really fun to be a part of.”

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Emptying the Notebook

• Nickeil Alexander-Walker put a lot of pressure on the rim, which has been more of a trend of his recently. Over the last five games, he’s fourth on the team in drives per game. It’s nice to see his game evolving beyond his typical catch-and-shoot game, which can cause him to be volatile and ineffective if the shot isn’t falling on offense.
• Another really nice Julius Randle game. It felt over the last couple of games that he got back to his old ways of inefficient basketball being played on an island. Not so much on Friday. He turned the ball over just twice, still managing 20 points against mismatches down low.
• Naz Reid passed out of a post-up on Jordan Hawkins. I just felt the need to write that down.
• Joe Ingles’ start tonight meant less time for Mike Conley. As you’d imagine, he took it in stride and played his lowest minute total of the season (10:21).

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Up Next

The Wolves have the next couple of days off and will head out on the road Monday for a rematch with the Indiana Pacers. Contrary to the previous game, Indy will likely have Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner back in the lineup. Will Obi Toppin put seven threes in? You just never know.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM CST.

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Highlights