MINNEAPOLIS -- Nikola Pekovic had 22 points and seven rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves led by as many as 30 points in cruising to a 124-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. Fletcher Cox Youth Jersey . Kevin Love had 21 points and six rebounds and Ricky Rubio had 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals for the Timberwolves. Minnesota shot 55.7 per cent, attempted 35 free throws and forced a season-high 18 turnovers from the Pelicans. Ryan Anderson had 25 points and Tyreke Evans added 16 points and seven boards for New Orleans. Eric Gordon returned from a three-game absence because of a bruised hip, but struggled with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Kevin Martin scored 20 points and reserve J.J. Barea had 17 to help the Wolves (16-16) to a needed win over New Orleans (14-16) in the jockeying for position in the tough Western Conference. The Wolves are currently in ninth place, one spot out of the playoffs and the Pelicans are right behind them. With Anthony Davis prowling the paint, the Pelicans lead the league in blocked shots and had a decided edge in athleticism over the Wolves. But Minnesota countered with a physical front court that gave the Pelicans fits. New Orleans coach Monty Williams had a difficult decision to make on defence, and he chose to put Davis on Love and Anderson against Pekovic for most of the night. Anderson was no match for the big Montenegrin in the post, who has been picking up steam in the last few weeks. Pekovic entered the night averaging 23.5 points and 11.2 rebounds over his last six games. The matchup difficulties contributed to early foul trouble for the Pelicans. Davis, Jrue Holiday and Alexis Ajinca picked up three fouls a piece in the first half, and Minnesota shot 24 free throws in the first two quarters to build a 14-point lead. The Pelicans usually are very good at taking care of the ball, but they turned it over 16 times in the first half. It only got worse in the third quarter. Minnesota used a 15-0 run early in the quarter to really open things up and Loves only 3-pointer of the night gave them an 87-57 lead with under five minutes to play in the third. Davis finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks and Holiday had 19 for New Orleans. NOTES: New Orleans fell to 2-10 against the West. ... Alexey Shved added 10 points as Minnesotas reserves scored 42 points, one game after managing just five in a loss to Dallas. ... The Pelicans fell to 12-4 when scoring 100 points. Seth Joyner Youth Jersey . General manager David Poile called signing Ribeiro a great opportunity to add a talented, experienced and creative centre Tuesday when he introduced the veteran at a news conference. Ribeiros contract is worth $1.05 million after being bought out of the final three years of a $22 million contract by the Coyotes recently. Dallas Goedert Youth Jersey . - Olympic champion Marielle Thompson accomplished her mission of defending her skicross World Cup title at Nakiska Ski Area on Saturday. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens-Nick-Foles-Inverted-Jersey/ . Heavily-criticized after allowing a dozen goals on 58 shots in two games in Boston, Luongo continued his dominance at home. Hes now allowed two goals in three home games in this series.(SportsNetwork.com) - Bill Peters was able to enjoy playoff hockey for each of his three seasons serving as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings, but the current bench boss of Carolina has a uphill battle ahead of him if he is to get his Hurricanes club to the postseason. The first-year head coach faces his former team on Sunday evening as the Hurricanes play host to the Red Wings. Peters spent the previous three seasons as an assistant on Detroit head coach Mike Babcocks staff, working primarily with the Red Wings defensemen and penalty kill units. He was then picked by Carolina in June to replace the fired Kirk Muller, becoming the 13th head coach in franchise history. Sunday will mark the first time he faces the Red Wings and Babcock as a NHL head coach. Time will tell, Peters told the Raleigh News and Observer. Its going to be an exiting day to play Detroit and coach against Babs, but Ill be focused on what we have to do in that game and getting the two points. Sunday will also see 23-year-old Andrej Nestrasil face the Red Wings for the first time. He was a third-round pick by Detroit in 2009 and made his NHL debut with the club this season, notching a pair of assists in 13 games. He was waived by Detroit in the hopes of returning him to the minor leagues, but Carolina claimed him on Nov. 20. Nestrasil has a goal and an assist in six games with the Hurricanes. Carolina is last in the Metropolitan Division and has lost two of three so far on a five-game homestand that ends on Monday versus New Jersey. The Hurricanes were bested 4-2 by the Washington Capitals on Thursday last time out. The Caps got a tie-breaking goal from Eric Fehr with 4:02 remaining as he capitalized on a turnover by Riley Nash. We need better puck management late in tthe game, said Peters. Brian Westbrook Jersey. Alexander Semin scored his first goal in 20 games this season, tying the contest 3:19 into the third period. The tally was the 500th point of his career. Semin, a former 40-goal scorer who had 22 tallies for the Hurricanes last season, had logged just five assists through his first 19 games. With Cam Ward out due to a lower-body injury, Anton Khudobin got the start and made 26 saves. Despite the solid effort, he fell to 0-6-2 this season with a 2.88 goals against average and .903 save percentage. It is unknown if Ward is healthy enough to start today or if Khudobin will face Detroit for the first time in his career. Ward is 2-4-1 versus the Red Wings with a 2.70 GAA and .929 save percentage. Detroit concludes a set of back-to-back games today after rallying to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Saturday. Darren Helm got the go-ahead goal 7:40 into the third period. The Red Wings trailed 2-0 deep into the second period before getting goals from Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening just over a minute apart. Jimmy Howard stoned the Rangers over the final two frames, finishing with 26 saves in the 500th victory of Babcocks career. (Howard) just put up a wall of plywood there, said Babcock. If they get three (goals), we dont win, so it was a real good job by Howie in the final 40 minutes. Detroit won three of four on its homestand and has picked up a victory in eight of 10 overall. Babcock is expected to give backup Petr Mrazek the start tonight, the first of his career against the Hurricanes. He has won both of his starts this season, giving up seven goals on 56 shots faced. The Red Wings have won six of their past eight versus the Canes, winning in overtime in their only trip to Carolina last season. ' ' '