MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards had 26 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks to lead Minnesota past New Orleans 113-108 on Sunday, passing the Pelicans in the play-in tournament seeding after losing a pair of starters to anger management problems.
Rudy Gobert threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson late in the second quarter and was dismissed for the rest of the game, after Jaden McDaniels hurt his right hand by hitting a wall in frustration. But Taurean Prince pitched in 18 points off the bench and the Timberwolves rallied from a 14-point deficit.
Minnesota (42-40) finished in eighth place and will travel to Los Angeles to play the surging seventh-place Lakers (43-39) in the play-in tournament on Tuesday night. The winner gets the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against Memphis.
New Orleans (42-40) fell to ninth place and will host 10th-place Oklahoma City in an elimination game on Wednesday night. The winner will hit the road to face the Timberwolves-Lakers loser in a win-and-in game for the No. 8 seed and a first-round date with Denver.
The Timberwolves won two of three against the Pelicans this season to gain the tiebreaker in the wildest of the handful of Western Conference games that carried meaning for seeding.
Brandon Ingram outscored the Wolves 21-18 in the first quarter by himself and finished with 42 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans. C.J. McCollum added 23 points and Trey Murphy III scored 20 points.
With the Wolves up 106-104, Edwards blocked McCollum’s dunk attempt to send the crowd into a frenzy. Edwards took a turnover with a dangerous pass off the drive that was intercepted in the corner by McCollum, but Edwards managed to steal it right back off an errant pass from McCollum. He attacked the rim for a layup, drew the foul and converted the three-point play to make it 109-104.
The Pelicans, who began the day with a chance to avoid the play-in tournament and get the No. 5 or 6 seed, didn’t get the help they needed — including from themselves.
After a turnover by Edwards gave the Pelicans the ball trailing 111-108, McCollum missed a contested shot at the rim. Then Murphy, with Edwards smothering him on the wing, airballed an off-balance 3.
The Wolves sure woke up after that, with Anderson and Prince moving into the starting lineup for the second half. Towns got better matchups with Gobert gone and took full advantage. He made three 3-pointers in less than 1 1/2 minutes early in the fourth quarter, the first of which gave the Wolves their first lead of the game at 86-85.
He flexed his muscles and howled at the crowd, and the Pelicans called timeout.
The Pelicans played their final push for the postseason without Zion Williamson, their frequently injured star forward who's been absent since hurting his hamstring on Jan. 2 and missed his 45th straight game. Ingram has been a big reason why the Pelicans finished so strong, with their first winning record in five years.
With Gobert playing through back spasms that had him listed as questionable and the Wolves sleepily settling for outside shots, Ingram had all the early energy. He scored the first nine points for the Pelicans and helped them build a 13-point lead in less than 10 minutes.
The Wolves in the Towns era have fared well in a small sample of these must-win games prior to the playoffs, beating Denver in Game 82 to make the postseason in 2018 and defeating the Clippers in the play-in tournament last year to get the No. 7 seed.
The easier ones have been the hardest part for the Wolves this season, with a total of 16 losses to the bottom 10 teams in the league.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Jonas Valancuinas had 11 points and 18 rebounds.
Timberwolves: Edwards had eight turnovers.
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