NEW ORLEANS — The Timberwolves blew out the Pelicans on Monday night 110-96, so the box score must show the Wolves shot the lights out on Bourbon Street, right?
That assumption, however, wasn't true as the Wolves shot just 40% from the field and 23% from three-point range.
Instead, the Wolves won their fourth straight because of their defense and rebounding, a prospect that would have been most implausible in previous seasons.
The Wolves forced the Pelicans into 23 turnovers and scored 28 points off those miscues, helping to compensate for their lackluster shooting. Jonas Valanciunas and the Pelicans dominated the Wolves on the boards when the teams last met in October and exposed just how much of a problem that could be for this team.