Davis scores 42 in Pelicans' road win
MINNEAPOLIS -- Anthony Davis had his sixth 40-point game of the season and the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away from the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 122-106 victory on Friday night at Target Center.
Davis was instrumental in helping New Orleans turn a 15-point first-half deficit into a double-digit victory. The Pelicans standout was an efficient 16 of 22 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, en route to a 42-point night.
Two of Davis' six 40-point games this season are against Minnesota. He also scored 45 against the Timberwolves in November.
Jrue Holiday chipped in 25 points and rookie Buddy Hield scored 17 off the bench for New Orleans, which improved to 2-0 against Minnesota this season.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 36 points. Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points, and Ricky Rubio had 15 points and 12 assists.
New Orleans was missing several players for various reasons, but Davis was a one-man wrecking crew. The Pelicans and Timberwolves entered with identical 20-33 records and yet Davis single-handedly helped New Orleans pick up its first road win since Jan. 12.
Minnesota took a 40-28 lead after a frenetic first quarter. Towns had 19 points as he dueled with Davis, another former Kentucky Wildcats big man. Davis had 13 of the Pelicans' 28 first-quarter points.
The Timberwolves were up by as many as 15 points but saw that lead disappear in the third quarter. Led by Davis, the Pelicans rallied to take a nine-point lead by the end of the third. Davis and Hield scored 12 points in the quarter.
The lead continued to grow for New Orleans in the fourth quarter as Minnesota struggled to make stops on defense. The Timberwolves have been one of the worst defenses in the NBA this season and couldn't do much to slow down Davis the Pelicans.
Timberwolves rookie point guard Kris Dunn saw action after missing four games with a hand injury. He wasn't much of a factor, though, as he went scoreless with one assist in nine minutes.
NOTES: Pelicans G E'Twaun Moore and C Alexis Ajinca missed the game because of personal reasons. Moore is averaging 9.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Ajinca hasn't played since Dec. 23. ... New Orleans G/F Tyreke Evans missed the game with an ankle injury. Evans suffered the injury on Monday and did not play Wednesday against the Jazz. ... Pelicans F Terrence Jones did not play because of a right thumb sprain. Jones played Wednesday against Utah and had a team-high 21 points in the Pelicans' loss. ... Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said he's pleased with the improvements Karl-Anthony Towns has made with his communication on defense. "He's getting there," Thibodeau said. "There's still more room for him to grow, too, and he has to be consistent with it."