Minnesota Timberwolves 115, New Orleans Pelicans 109: a 38-point fourth quarter
Minnesota trailed by two after three quarters in New Orleans, then scored 38 in the fourth behind Ayo Dosunmu's 26 to win 115-109 and cover.
The Minnesota Timberwolves went into the fourth quarter at Smoothie King Center down 79-77 and came out with a 115-109 win. They did it with a 38-point final quarter, a 10-point edge in free throw attempts and 26 points from Ayo Dosunmu.
It is a third straight win for Minnesota, now 7-3, and a second straight on the road after Wednesday's 117-107 result in Houston. The New Orleans Pelicans fall to 4-5.
How it was won
The first half went Minnesota's way after a slow start. New Orleans took the first quarter 30-27, then the Wolves answered with a 30-21 second to lead 57-51 at the break.
The third belonged to the Pelicans. They won it 28-20 and turned a six-point deficit into a two-point lead. Their largest lead of the night was 7.
The fourth is where it was settled. Minnesota scored 38 points to New Orleans' 30, and its largest lead of the game, 11, came in a night where neither side ever ran away with it.
The box score explains how a team that shot worse still won. Minnesota went 38-for-88 from the field, 43%, against 39-for-86 and 45% for New Orleans. The Pelicans also had the edge in the paint, 54-50, and in assists, 25-23. Turnovers were close, 14 for Minnesota and 13 for New Orleans.
The gap came elsewhere. Minnesota got to the line 37 times and made 27; New Orleans went 21-for-26. That is six points at the stripe. The Wolves also out-rebounded the Pelicans 49-41, which helped them take two more shots from the field. From three, Minnesota was 12-for-39 to New Orleans' 10-for-24: a much lower rate, but six more points.
The three-point volume was carried by the top of the box score. Dosunmu went 4-for-6 from deep on his way to 26 points, with 4 assists. Jaden McDaniels added 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, though he was 2-for-7 from three. LaMelo Ball scored 22 with a team-high 8 assists and hit 3 of 8 threes. Those three combined for 71 points and went 9-for-21 from deep; the rest of the roster was 3-for-18.
For New Orleans, Jeremiah Fears led with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Karlo Matkovic scored 18 and made 4 of 8 threes, and Saddiq Bey had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 3-for-6 shooting from deep.
Against the number
Minnesota closed as a 3.5-point favorite and won by six, so the Wolves covered. The moneyline closed at Minnesota -166 and New Orleans +140, and the favorite came through.
The total closed at 230.5. The teams combined for 224, so the game went under by 6.5 points. The 51-point second quarter and the 68-point fourth were the high-scoring stretches, but the 48-point third kept the pace well short of the line.
The closing prices and line movement are on the game page.
What's next
Minnesota comes home on Sunday, November 8, to face the Utah Jazz, on DAZN MIN, KJZZ-TV and Jazz+. The Wolves have won three in a row, with a 12-point win over Milwaukee at home before this road pair.
New Orleans sits at 4-5. Its next game was not on the schedule we had at publication; we will have prices on the board when the market opens.
