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Pelicans conclude homestand versus Timberwolves

Feb 7, 2014 - 3:32 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New Orleans Pelicans will wrap up a four-game homestand on Friday night when the Minnesota Timberwolves head to the Smoothie King Center.

(On Thursday, the naming rights for New Orleans Arena went to Smoothie King, thus the name change.)

The Pelicans are 2-1 during this residency in the Big Easy with wins over the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks sandwiched around a loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

New Orleans has been playing good basketball of late with five wins in its last seven games. All the while, the Pelicans haven't had the services of Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith. Tyreke Evans missed the Hawks game with a rib injury.

On Wednesday, Anthony Davis had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pelicans to a 105-100 win over the Hawks. Davis had a streak of at least four blocks in seven straight games entering the contest, but had just one on Wednesday.

Brian Roberts scored 19 points and Eric Gordon finished with 18 for the Pelicans.

"We started the game off in a decent manner and then they took control of the game for a good segment into the third quarter, and then I just thought our defense picked up where we wanted it to. We got a lot of stops and scored," said Pelicans coach Monty Williams.

The Wolves have been inconsistent of late, losing three of their last four after winning two straight.

On Wednesday, Kevin Durant led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 106-97 home victory over the Wolves.

Without All-Star forward Kevin Love, who sat with a stiff neck, Ricky Rubio recorded 19 points, eight boards and five assists for Minnesota. Dante Cunningham notched 18 points and J.J. Barea finished with 11 points off the bench.

Nikola Pekovic has been out with right ankle bursitis. Corey Brewer missed Wednesday's game due to the birth of his son.

"I'm really proud of our guys, they busted their tail the whole game, just three points down in the fourth quarter and then we turned it over too many times, gave them easy baskets and gave them too many offensive rebounds," Wolves head coach Rick Adelman said.

The Timberwolves have won both of this season's contests with New Orleans and four in a row overall in the series. The Pelicans have won two of the last three at home against Minny.