NEW ORLEANS -- No matter how much his teammates plead with him to stop throwing his franchise body into the expensive courtside seats chasing after loose balls, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis simply won't listen.

The pride and fire Davis has displayed in helping the Pelicans climb out of an early-season, 1-9 grave flashed once again Wednesday night as the All-Star forward scored a franchise-record 21 points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 45 points and 10 rebounds to lift New Orleans to a 117-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In winning their fourth straight game -- the longest winning streak in two seasons under coach Alvin Gentry -- the Pelicans climbed to 6-10 on the season and showed the kind of defensive and offensive firepower that should give them a renewed sense of confidence.

If only they can keep their leader in one piece.

Davis, who hurt his knee diving into the courtside seats in a road victory over Atlanta on Tuesday night, did it again with the game tied at 55 early in the third quarter. He hustled to save a ball, threw a blind pass back onto the court and guard E'Twuan Moore made it count by finishing off the hustle play with a driving layup.

"I said it yesterday: 'I'll probably do it again tonight,'" said Davis, who was an efficient 17 of 27 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the line. "I see the ball and my instinct is I've got to go get it."

Point guard Tim Frazier, who scored 11 points and dished out eight assists, said he is one of many Pelicans to tell Davis to be more circumspect in throwing his body around.

"He can't be running into chairs," Frazier said, smiling. "Leave that to myself and others to do that."

Forward Solomon Hill, whose defense helped force Andrew Wiggins into a 2-of-19 night, also said he wished Davis would not tempt fate so often.

"We keep telling him that, but I don't think he gets it, man," Hill said. "I told him that, too: 'Stay out of the stands.' But the guy he is and what he's worth, we want to keep him out of the stands as much as possible. I played with the Pacers last year and he did one where he dove into the stands. Other teams are excited when he does things like that. We've got to watch his back."

The Pelicans used a 26-4 burst in the middle of the third quarter -- with Davis scoring 12 -- to pull away to an 83-61 lead. New Orleans outscored Minnesota 36-18 in the period on the strength of 64 percent shooting. The Wolves, meanwhile, made just 28 percent in the quarter.

Minnesota guard Andrew Wiggins, who entered the game shooting 7 of 29 in his last two games, continued his slump, going 2 of 19 and finishing with 13 points in 30 minutes.

"We have to play tougher," Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Same thing -- foul trouble, eight-point lead, we don't close out the second quarter well and it snowballed in the third quarter. We have to keep looking. We are not playing any defense."

Davis hit 8 of 11 first-quarter shots as New Orleans took a 31-26 lead. The Pelicans shot 63 percent in the first quarter, but the Wolves stayed close by driving into the lane and drawing contact. They made 12 of 14 free throws in the period.

The Pelicans finally cooled off from the perimeter, and Minnesota forced them into 11 consecutive empty possessions in an 11-0 run that gave the Wolves a 46-38 lead.

However, Davis, scored five points to spark a 15-4 run to close out the second quarter with New Orleans holding a 53-50 lead. Terrence Jones made a pair of dunks in the surge. Minnesota failed to score in the final 3:32 of the half.

Gentry said the four-game winning streak is a great tonic for a team that played so many close games early in the season but lost nine of 10.

"It is, and it's because we've got enough healthy bodies and we can throw guys out there," Gentry said. "Defensively and offensively combined, this is by far the best we've played since I've been here."

NOTES: Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said he doesn't want to temper Anthony Davis' pedal-to-the-metal style of play, even if flying around the courts leads to nagging injuries. Davis played only 18 minutes in a 112-94 road victory over Atlanta on Tuesday night after bruising his right knee diving for a ball. "I shudder when he goes into the cheap seats," Gentry said. "But that's just who he is. He's going to play hard. You can't talk about, 'Don't make this play, don't make that play,' because those are the times you end up getting hurt. You've just got to let a guy play." ... The Pelicans were 3-0 and outscoring their opponents by an average margin of 11.6 points with PG Rue Holiday back in the lineup. ... Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Davis on the 2014 U.S. FIBA World Cup team, said he has been impressed with Davis' development. "Every year he gets better," Thibodeau said. When you look back on where he was two or three years ago and where he is today, it's a quantum leap."