MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves knew Tuesday's opponent was playing without its two best players. Tom Thibodeau's team kept its foot on the gas pedal anyway.

Zach LaVine scored a game-high 31 points for Minnesota as the Timberwolves topped the Memphis Grizzlies 116-80 on Tuesday at Target Center. The Wolves easily dispatched of a Grizzlies team that rested stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol to earn their first win of the year.

"We're still striving to be a 48-minute team," said new Timberwolves coach Thibodeau. "We're not close to that yet. We know we have to work at that."

Tuesday's win was the third time this season that Minnesota has had at least a 15-point lead, but just the first time the Wolves have managed to hold onto their sizable advantage. The Timberwolves led by as many as 40 on Tuesday, giving the starters ample opportunity to rest in the fourth quarter.

Center Gorgui Dieng, who one day earlier signed a four-year contract extension, added 17 points while Andrew Wiggins also scored 17 for Minnesota. All five Wolves starters finished in double figures.

Minnesota held big leads against Memphis and the Sacramento Kings in the first two regular-season games but went on to lose both contests by a combined seven points. The Wolves left no doubt about the outcome of Tuesday's game and never let the Grizzlies hang around.

"(We had) more focus. We came here and just stopped messing around," LaVine said. "We know what we did the last two games. Don't let it happen again, that type of thing."

Deyonta Davis scored 17 points off the bench for short-handed Memphis, which beat Minnesota in the first game of the season last week. Troy Williams added 14 points,

Minnesota shot 58.1 percent in the first half, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. LaVine had 20 of his 31 points before halftime. That included a dunk to complete an alley-oop pass from Karl-Anthony Towns. LaVine landed awkwardly on the play but eventually returned to action.

Timberwolves rookie point guard Kris Dunn was impressive in his first NBA start. Dunn, who filled in for the injured Ricky Rubio, had 10 points and was active on defense all night. Dunn added five steals and six assists to his stat sheet in 30 minutes.

The Grizzlies (2-2) are being cautious early on with Conley and Gasol, who both had injuries last season. Conley dealt with an Achilles injury while Gasol suffered a broken foot last year.

Thibodeau, who took over in the offseason for interim head coach Sam Mitchell, was opposing another new head coach in Memphis' David Fizdale. In five seasons as the Chicago Bulls' coach, Thibodeau was 255-141.

Fizdale hinted before the game that some players' minutes may be limited Tuesday due to maintenance. Neither Conley nor Gasol saw the floor all night.

"They just came off the overtime game," Fizdale said. "We just thought it was best that tonight, we rested them and then you load up and you try to get a win at home tomorrow."

Nothing changed in the Wolves' mindset as Memphis' top two scorers sat on the bench.

"I think tonight was more about us coming out, playing good right away and finishing the game off," Dunn said. "I think we did a good job with that."

Memphis shot just 36.5 percent in the game and was 4-of-24 from 3-point range. The Grizzlies were also outrebounded 49-32 and turned the ball over 21 times.

"We had no toughness offensively," Fizdale said. "We were very careless."

NOTES: Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio was ruled out for Tuesday's game against Memphis with a sprained right elbow. Rubio was injured late in Minnesota's loss to Sacramento on Saturday. Rookie PG Kris Dunn started in Rubio's place. ... Grizzlies G Tony Allen (knee) played 19 minutes in his first action of the season, and he scored four points. ... Minnesota signed C Gorgui Dieng to a contract extension, the team announced late Monday night. The terms of the deal were not released by the team, but Dieng's extension was reportedly worth $64 million over four years. Dieng averaged 8.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in his first three seasons with the Timberwolves.