Takeaways: Timberwolves do enough to make it a sweep of Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS – A trend is emerging in the fourth quarter for the Timberwolves.

On Sunday against the Spurs, coach Chris Finch went with a lineup of Julius Randle, Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels, Donte Divincenzo and Mike Conley, who then subbed out in favor of Anthony Edwards. The Wolves played some of their best basketball of the season in closing out a 13-point victory.

On Thursday with the Wolves again struggling to put away the Western Conference’s worst team, Finch turned to Randle, Reid, McDaniels, DiVincenzo and Edwards. They played the entire fourth quarter of a 125-116 Wolves victory over the Pelicans.

“Coach is good at having a feel for the game and whatever is working, kind of roll with it,” Randle said.

The Wolves went on a 17-2 burst in the opening minutes of the quarter that flipped a two-point deficit to a 13-point lead, and they were able to get enough easy buckets against the Pelicans’ full-court pressure despite committing 20 turnovers.

They also overcame a weird night for Anthony Edwards, who battled foul trouble and double teams to score just 11 points on six shot attempts. Randle picked up the scoring slack with 28 points while McDaniels had 14 (10 in the fourth) and Reid had 19 (11 in the fourth).

Like they did Sunday, the Wolves deployed a zone defense that generated enough stops for them to go on the run. McDaniels was the key to it in the middle of the back line.

Although he didn’t play in the fourth quarter, center Rudy Gobert finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Jaylen Clark provided 12 points off the bench. The Wolves have now won four consecutive games, but this trip to play the shorthanded Pelicans (3-20) didn’t exactly go as they planned it. They squeaked out an overtime victory Tuesday and were trailing after three quarters Thursday before again finding chemistry in their closing lineup.

“We’re not the best version of ourselves right now, and that’s OK,” Reid said. “We still got the last four wins. I think sometimes we kind of, no disrespect to the Pelicans, I think sometimes we can’t play down our competition. That’s what kind of hurts us sometimes.”

For Finch, he has said the team has a tendency to get “bored,” especially on the defensive end, but winning four in a row, warts and all, is better than the alternative of losing these games they should win.

“We were able to step up when we needed to,” Finch said. We have the ability to win different ways and we’re leaning into that right now.”

And they might be leaning into this lineup more in the future.

Finch had a lineup that included Clark and Terrence Shannon Jr. with Reid and Conley after Randle scored 10 in the quarter to help them keep pace. New Orleans led 90-88 after three quarters.

Randle scored eight points in regulation of Tuesday’s overtime victory. He double his output in the extra session to end with 16 points.

He got off to a better start Thursday by scoring 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting in the first quarter. He was aggressive in taking to the ball to the rim and went to the line for three free throws.

The Wolves were also proficient in finding Gobert early at the rim for eight points. That amounted to a 35-30 Wolves lead after one quarter.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 125, New Orleans 116

New Orleans made it a game Tuesday because of its ability to outrun the Wolves in transition. It was also how the Pelicans made it a game again in the second quarter. They turned the game into a track meet, and that helped them erase a 10-point deficit in the second to tie the score 62-62 at the half. The Wolves went cold from the field and shot just 8-for-28 while New Orleans was 13-for-25. The Wolves had shot 52% in the first quarter.