The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Pelicans yet again, sweeping the regular season four-game series. However, for a change, there were happy positives to take away from Saturday night’s 118-107 loss.
Let’s jump right to the good stuff: Nikola Mirotic was most impressive in his Pelicans debut, looking well worth the price of a 2018 first round pick. He stuffed the stat line with 18 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three three-pointers, but watching him move, think the game and give full effort should have made hearts swoon. He’s a believer in boxing out assignments and playing defense with arms out-stretched on one end, cutting smartly, whipping quick passes and setting himself up for open spot-up situations on the other.