Timberwolves at Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are hopeful of chasing down the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and have little margin for error as they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. New Orleans saw its chances decrease with a four-game losing streak but rebounded with a 102-88 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday and now face the slumping Timberwolves. Minnesota lost 120-110 to Houston on Friday and has dropped nine of its last 11 games.
Pelicans coach Monty Williams remains hopeful of his squad making a strong finishing kick and being in the mix to the end. “There are a lot of frontiers for us as far as dealing with the kind of pressure that we have right now to win all these games down the stretch,” Williams told reporters after the victory over Sacramento. “I think winning a game like this can be contagious and I hope we can carry this over and be ever better on Sunday.” Minnesota continues to play with a shorthanded roster as the list of injured players include point guard Ricky Rubio (ankle), power forward Kevin Garnett (knee) and center Nikola Pekovic (ankle) while shooting guard Kevin Martin (hamstring) has a chance of returning against the Pelicans.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (16-56): Small forward Andrew Wiggins has scored 20 or more points in four of the past five games, including a 31-point outing against the Rockets. He is averaging 22.6 points during the stretch while playing 44 minutes per game with Minnesota decimated by injuries. “He’s playing at a really, really high level,” Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders told reporters. “He’s doing things that I really didn’t envision he’d get to as far advanced as he has gotten to at this point. It seems like every time we give him more responsibility, he continues to thrive.”
ABOUT THE PELICANS (38-34): Tyreke Evans continues to stand out at point guard while filling in for injured Jrue Holliday and is averaging 26.5 points and 8.5 assists over the last two games. Evans has delivered 17 double-doubles – his previous career best was 13 – while averaging 16.8 points and a career-best 6.5 assists. “I’ve had enough time to be at this position,” Evans told reporters. “I’m just working at it every day, just trying to make this team better and do what I got to do for us to win.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. New Orleans is 2-0 against the Timberwolves this season, led by a 139-91 drubbing on Nov. 14 in which the Pelicans set or tied nine franchise records, including points scored, field-goal percentage (66.7) and largest margin of victory (48).
2. Pelicans PF Anthony Davis is averaging 24.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks in three games since returning from an ankle injury.
3. Minnesota C Gorgui Dieng has scored in double digits in nine of the last 10 games.