PHOENIX, April 7, 2018 (AP) - It's been three years since the New Orleans Pelicans made the postseason, and they're trying to enjoy the playoff chase during crunch time in the hotly contested Western Conference. "To be back in that situation is good for us, but we're going to enjoy it and have fun with it," Anthony Davis said. Nikola Mirotic scored a season-high 31 points and tied a season best with 16 rebounds, and Davis had 33 points and 11 boards in the Pelicans'122-103 win over the Phoenix Suns Friday night. "The coaches did a great job trying to find me, to get some plays for me," Mirotic said. "I felt very confident, especially with my defense, and I think when I feel that confident defensively, my offense comes." Jrue Holiday added 22 points and 10 assists to help the Pelicans move into a tie for the West's fifth seed with idle San Antonio and Oklahoma City. New Orleans (45-34) won its second straight after losing four in a row. "More fun than anything. It's why we play the game," Holiday said of the playoff run. The Pelicans led by double digits throughout the entire fourth quarter. Marquese Chriss led Phoenix with 23 points and rookie Josh Jackson added 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Suns have lost 16 of 17 and are closer to clinching the NBA's worst record. "Just wanting to learn every game," Jackson said. "I've come a long way, I think, and I just owe it to being a student of the game and wanting to become better." Davis had 13 points and six rebounds in the first quarter alone, and Mirotic scored 15 points in the period. The Pelicans attempted 18 3-pointers in the first and made eight, building a 39-21 lead after 12 minutes. The Suns cut the Pelicans' lead to 11 in the second quarter, but couldn't get closer in the first half. Jackson took a forceful elbow from Holiday to his jaw and hit the floor on a drive with 3:20 to go. Jackson was called for a foul, and the Suns bench protested vehemently enough that veteran Jared Dudley was ejected seven seconds later. "They (officials) said 'We missed the call, we blew the call, but there was nothing flagrant about it,'" Suns coach Jay Triano said. Davis scored 14 points in the second quarter, 10 over the final 1:38 before halftime, and New Orleans led 63-46. The Pelicans scored only four points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to help the Suns cut the lead to 71-62 on the second of back-to-back 3s from Dragan Bender. The Pelicans finished the quarter on a 15-8 run to lead 86-70. Wolves beat Lakers 113-96 Jimmy Butler needed about two quarters to look like his old self. Once he did, the Minnesota Timberwolves looked good again, too. Butler scored 18 points in his return from right knee surgery, Jeff Teague had 25 points and eight assists, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-96 on Friday night. "It feels like Jimmy's that one piece that helps everybody be where their supposed to be at," Wolves forward Taj Gibson said. "I felt defensively it helps us a lot. But it's good to get back to the old ways." Butler played 22 1⁄2 minutes and was 7 for 10 from the field in his first game since getting hurt against Houston on Feb. 23. He had surgery two days later for a cartilage injury and missed 17 games. He made a difficult turnaround jumper to start the second half. He finished an acrobatic layup after receiving a lob pass from Teague. He even reached into his bag of defensive tricks with a steal that led to a breakaway dunk. "He looked good," Andrew Wiggins said. "He got to his spots, he scored when he wanted to score. He was just playing his game out there." Minnesota moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Gibson also scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were on the second night of a back-to-back. They lost to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. Julius Randle scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost nine of 13. Josh Hart tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Brook Lopez had 18 points and six rebounds. Minnesota started the third quarter with a 16-6 run and took a 67-64 lead on a basket Butler. Teague, Wiggins and Towns all made 3-pointers to give the Timberwolves an eight-point lead with 3:25 remaining in the period. Towns capped an 11-2 run with a put-back layup to give Minnesota a 78-68 advantage with 2:12 remaining in the third. Josh Hart made a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer and the Lakers trailed 80-73. Los Angeles went on a 9-0 run after trailing 36-32 in the second quarter. An 11-0 run four minutes later gave the Lakers a 52-40 lead with 3:08 remaining in the first half. Gibson's basket cut Minnesota's deficit to 56-50. The Timberwolves trailed 58-51 at halftime. Despite shooting only 29 percent from the field, the Lakers outscored the Timberwolves 32-21 in the second quarter. Lopez scored the first 15 points for the Lakers, outscoring Minnesota by himself over the first six minutes of the game. The rest of the team, however, scored only 11 points the rest of the quarter.
