New Orleans Pelicans set franchise records in win against Minnesota Timberwolves 139-91
By Rick Stone
After the New Orleans Pelicans handled the Lakers Wednesday, it was a question on how they would come out against another young and banged up team in the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It looked even better.
New Orleans set a franchise record in points in a game with 139, a franchise record for points in a quarter with 43 in the first quarter and a franchise record for points in a half with 80 points in the half as they put the smack down on the T-Wolves 139-91. The first half was a festival for the Pelicans shooting. They shot 31-43 from the field, 8-9 from behind the three-point arc and 10-11 from the free-throw line and a true shooting percentage of 81%. The second half proved a little more competitive, but still resulted in the blowout victory for New Orleans.
Other Observations:
- The Pelicans completely dominated this game, including garbage time. New Orleans won each of the first three quarters by at least 10 points. The final quarter was also won by the Pelicans, but only by 2 points….only.
- If there was one thing to look for improvement on for New Orleans, it was the fouls. The Pelicans committed 30 fouls in the game, resulting in 41 free-throws for the Timberwolves. Even in a blowout, the Pelicans need to stop fouling so early in the game, including twice in the 1st and 3rd quarters, where they put the Wolves in the penalty six minutes into each quarter.
- The Pelicans underrated bright spot in this game was the team’s ball movement. In the previous seven games for New Orleans, the Pelicans averaged 23.4 assists per game. Tonight? The Pelicans totaled 31 assists. If they can keep the ball moving at this pace, who knows how successful this offense can be.
- The Pelicans ridiculous shooting spread all across the roster.Every player who got into the game scored the basketball. Along with that, only Ryan Anderson (6-15) and Darius Miller (1-3) were not able to get over .500% from the field.
- The Pelicans most eye-popping stat of the night probably was their three-point shooting on the night. They tied a franchise high with 15 three pointers made on only 20 attempts from the field. Seven Pelicans were able to drain a three-pointer in the game.