With Anthony Edwards out, Dosunmu poured in 26 points, LaMelo Ball ran the fourth quarter, and Minnesota closed an NBA Cup night in New Orleans with a 38-point final period — 115-109, a third straight win, and the Pelicans' four-game streak gone.
Minnesota keeps finding somebody. With Anthony Edwards out after knee surgery, the Timberwolves walked into the Smoothie King Center on Friday night and beat the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 in NBA Cup group play, winning their third straight game and their fourth in the last five. Ayo Dosunmu led them with 26 points, Jaden McDaniels added 23, and LaMelo Ball finished with 22 points and a game-high eight assists — including the stretch that decided the game.
The Takeover
Minnesota started hot — five three-pointers in the first quarter, an early pair of them from Dosunmu, as the Wolves built a 13-5 lead. New Orleans punched back with a 17-4 run powered by three Karlo Matkovic threes off the bench and took a 24-22 lead, but the Wolves steadied, won the second quarter 30-21, and went to halftime up 57-51 despite missing free throws all night. Minnesota finished 27 of 37 at the line and still controlled the game.
The third quarter belonged to Zion Williamson — briefly. Williamson scored eight points in a 12-0 run that put New Orleans up 73-66 with 4:26 left in the period, and the Pelicans carried a two-point edge into the fourth. Dejounte Murray's three made it 89-87 New Orleans with 7:55 to play.
Then Ball took over the geometry of the game. He scored five straight points to ignite a 10-2 run that put Minnesota ahead 97-91, and the Wolves never trailed again. Saddiq Bey's three cut it to 104-99 with 2:53 left, but New Orleans missed its next two possessions, Dosunmu answered with a three, and McDaniels' two free throws rebuilt a 10-point cushion with 1:32 remaining. Jeremiah Fears scored to pull the Pelicans within 113-109 in the final seconds, and Jonathan Kuminga's closing dunk settled the margin. Minnesota scored 38 points in the fourth quarter. New Orleans scored 30.
Dosunmu's Moment
This is becoming a pattern instead of a fill-in story. Edwards has been available for only four of Minnesota's ten games, and Dosunmu — acquired from Chicago — has started in his place since the surgery. He has scored at least 15 points in all six of his starts and topped 20 in three of them, including 20 against the Knicks on Wednesday and now a season-best night in New Orleans.
Friday was his best game yet in a Wolves uniform: 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 4 of 6 from three, a perfect 6 of 6 at the line, in a team-high 39 minutes. Minnesota needed a first option in New Orleans. It got one wearing No. 13. The Wolves did it short-handed in the frontcourt, too — rookie center Joan Beringer left in the second quarter with a nasal fracture and did not return. Trey Lyles grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds off the bench, Rudy Gobert added 11 boards, and Kuminga, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, dunked the game shut.
Williamson Never Got Loose
Fears, the rookie, was the Pelicans' best player: 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Matkovic scored 18 off the bench and Bey added 17. But Williamson never got loose. Minnesota held him to a season-low 13 points — he came in averaging 21.5 — and just two in the first half, extending a strange pattern: across 11 career games against the Timberwolves, Williamson entered the night averaging 28.5 points per game. This was the quietest he has ever been against them.
The loss ends a four-game New Orleans winning streak that had pulled the Pelicans back to level after an 0-4 start. At 4-5, they open their NBA Cup account with a loss. Minnesota, at 7-3, is the early pace-setter in West Group B at 2-0.
Utah Comes to Minneapolis on Sunday
Minnesota hosts Utah on Sunday night. New Orleans goes to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Sunday night. The Wolves' Cup run continues in West Group B, where they are unbeaten — and where, for as long as Edwards is out, the Dosunmu show rolls on.
Sources · 5 sources
- ESPN — Box score, linescore and scoreboard for Minnesota Timberwolves at New Orleans Pelicans, November 6, 2026 (event 401909293), read twice and in agreement
- Associated Press — Game story — Dosunmu's 26, the Cup group state, the snapped streak and the closing sequence (November 6, 2026)
- Reuters — Field Level Media game report — game flow, Beringer's injury and Lyles' season-high 13 rebounds (November 6, 2026)
- Sports Illustrated — Postgame report — Dosunmu's splits as a starter and Williamson's career line against Minnesota (November 6, 2026)
- NBC Sports — Dosunmu has started since Edwards' knee surgery; 21-plus points in three of six starts (November 6, 2026)
Every possession from the Smoothie King Center — the full box score and play-by-play — is in the Game Center for Minnesota at New Orleans, and the night's full NBA slate is on the NBA hub.
