Only one team could leave Wednesday’s showdown in Minneapolis with the longest losing streak in the NBA, and Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t about to let the New Orleans Pelicans have it.
Minnesota played worse than the New Orleans to secure their 8th straight loss, with the Pelicans’ 13-game losing streak coming to an end with a 107-99 victory at Target Center.
The Pelicans had not won since Nov. 21 – likely before you purchased your Thanksgiving turkey – and the Wolves still haven’t won since Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.
The Wolves started the season 7-4 but have since lost 12 of 15 to drop to 10-16 overall.
In fairness, Minnesota played without Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed the game with a sprained left knee.
With Towns out, Saunders rolled out a starting lineup featuring Jeff Teague, Andrew Wiggins, Treveon Graham, Josh Okogie and Gorgui Dieng. Wiggins led the Wolves with 27 points, but the other four starters combined for only 28 points as Minnesota shot a putrid 37.2% for the game, including 10-of-39 (23.7%) from three.
Robert Covington came off the bench and scored 15 points for Minnesota.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans (7-22) with 34 points.
Head coach Ryan Saunders said Towns is “day-to-day,” so his status for the upcoming four-game West Coast road trip is up in the air.
The Wolves hit the road to face the Nuggets Friday, followed by games at Portland (Saturday), Golden State (Monday) and Sacramento (Thursday).
