NEW ORLEANS – Chris Finch wasn't too thrilled with his new starting lineup and how it came out in the third quarter Tuesday night.

After the Timberwolves were tied with the New Orleans Pelicans at halftime, the Wolves allowed three offensive rebounds and committed three turnovers in a 7-0 Pelicans run. Timeout Wolves. They hadn't even attempted a shot in the quarter.

"We needed to wake up," Finch said. "Get back in the game. We have to expect more of ourselves sometimes in those moments."

Even from the top of the lower section looking down on the Wolves bench, his anger was palpable. But after that moment, the revamped starting lineup turned it around and took control of a game that eventually became a 104-97 Wolves win, their second victory on consecutive nights.

"I love to see it," guard Donte DiVincenzo said. "I think that's sometimes what we need. Forget all the X's and O's, slam the clipboard, do whatever you need to do, just get into us a little bit, because our guys feed off that. We feed off energy, talking to one another getting into it and going from there."

Asked about that moment, center Rudy Gobert said with a grin: "He's a pretty emotional guy. … He has passion."

After that timeout, the Wolves turned a 64-57 deficit into a 75-66 lead, and they never relinquished it the rest of the evening. DiVincenzo got rolling in place of Mike Conley with seven of his 10 points. He added seven assists. Anthony Edwards, who had a game-high 32 points, also had seven during the third. The starters also opened the night with a 23-10 lead, but lost that after most of the team went cold outside of Edwards and Julius Randle (16 points).

But Tuesday's win had a bit of a twist — Finch turned to his original starters in the closing minutes. Conley replaced DiVincenzo, and the Wolves piled up stops down the stretch to keep the worst team in the Western Conference from pulling the upset, even as its best player, Zion Williamson, played for the first time since Nov. 6. Williamson had 22 points.

"Let's see here, Julius was a plus-21, was our best Zion matchup. I thought he played an excellent game," Finch said. "I liked those matchups, and needed somebody to manage the end of the game. Mike did that."

BOXSCORE: Wolves 104, New Orleans 97

NBA standings

Edwards looked gassed down the stretch as he made a few mistakes that allowed the Pelicans to hang around, but Gobert helped shut the door with six blocks to go with seven points, 14 rebounds and four assists. In recent games, Finch called on Gobert to regain his form as a dominant defensive presence. He was that on Tuesday. Three of his blocks came in the fourth quarter.

"I try to set the tone for the team, and the team needs me to be the best in the world on that end for us to be who we want to be," Gobert said.

After Finch called Edwards' game Monday a "master class," Edwards put together another good night scoring, especially in the first half, when he was 8-for-12 and the rest of the team was 12-for-39. Finch also went out of his way to praise Randle in the city the two first worked together.

"Listen, I got a lot of respect, admiration for Julius," Finch said. "His shot attempts overall are down from where he was in New York. His numbers have been in line with them, too, so he's having a bit more of an efficient season for us. We've asked him to do different things at different times as our team ebbed and flowed.

"… I'm always conscious of what we're asking him and maybe he's not able to settle into his own rhythm sometimes. But he's been a trooper."

With the Wolves at 19-17, it's a time of transition for Randle and all involved after Finch changed the starting lineup. It was a jolt to the collective psyche of the team, a jolt that needed a little extra emphasis during that third quarter timeout. Finch liked what he saw after.

"We survived our opening poor play of the third," Finch said. "We responded really well to that."