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Fresh off their most impressive victory of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves continued their strong play with a road win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
The Timberwolves have jumped out to a 7-3 record and are 2-0 in NBA Cup action, despite having their best player, Anthony Edwards, available for only four games. Minnesota continues to post gaudy numbers, notably leading the league in net rating.
Against the Pelicans, several players delivered standout performances. Here are four box score figures that caught the eye.
1. LaMelo Ball's +23 plus-minus
LaMelo Ball was the driving force behind the Timberwolves' victory. He finished with 22 points on just 15 shot attempts and added eight rebounds. Ball logged a season-high 35 minutes, and Minnesota needed every one of them.
During Ball's 35 minutes on the floor, the Timberwolves outscored the Pelicans by 23 points, shot 54 percent from the field, and assisted on 64.7 percent of their made baskets. In the 13 minutes Ball sat, Minnesota was outscored by 17 points, shot 16 percent from the field, and recorded just one assist.
Ball controlled every facet of the offense while on the court. He often played with the ball in his hands for extended stretches, consistently either attacking the rim for layups or kicking out to open shooters. His performance both validates the Wolves' decision to trade for him this summer and gives the organization confidence that it can win games without its superstar.
Ball has had some ups and downs early in his Timberwolves tenure, but his last two games have been sensational. He dominated the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets and carried the entire offense against the Pelicans.
2. Ayo Dosunmu's efficient 26 points
Ayo Dosunmu has improved with each game he plays for the Timberwolves. In this one, he led the team in scoring with a hyper-efficient 26 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Since joining the starting lineup, Dosunmu is averaging 20.8 points per game on 53.2 percent shooting from the field and 41.9 percent from deep. He is also contributing 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during that stretch.
Dosunmu has silenced doubters who questioned his five-year, $112 million contract. He has proven capable of being both a high-quality sixth man off the bench and a player who can increase his usage as needed without sacrificing efficiency.
3. Timberwolves shoot 12-of-39 on three-pointers
Despite generating plenty of wide-open three-point looks, the Timberwolves struggled to convert from beyond the arc. They made just 12 of their 39 attempts from deep, including 3-for-16 on corner three-pointers. Many of the misses were not particularly close.
Perhaps the deep blue Pelicans court for the NBA Cup played a role, or it was simply an odd shooting slump. Either way, it speaks well of the Wolves that they won without relying on their outside shot.
One of the biggest culprits was Trey Lyles, who missed all four of his three-point attempts. However, Lyles more than made up for it elsewhere, grabbing 13 rebounds and adding three steals and a block on the defensive end.
4. Zion Williamson held to 13 points
Zion Williamson has historically been a Timberwolves killer, but not in this game. He finished with just 13 points, the lowest total of his career against Minnesota.
Before this matchup, Williamson was averaging 28.5 points per contest in 11 career games against the Timberwolves, by far his highest average against any opponent. The primary defender on Williamson was Jonathan Kuminga.
In the past, Minnesota lacked the combination of speed, size, and strength at power forward to keep up with Williamson. This time, Kuminga proved to be the perfect player type to slow him down, and he did exactly that.
It is almost impossible to overstate how valuable Kuminga has been for the Timberwolves through ten games. Earlier in the season, head coach Chris Finch said, 'We'd be lost without him right now,' about Kuminga, and this defensive performance is a perfect example of why.