NEW ORLEANS -- Mired 14 games under .500, the New Orleans Pelicans were in no position to overlook the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had lost nine consecutive games before breaking through with a victory on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns.

But after Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett raked the face of New Orleans forward Ryan Anderson with his left arm on a trip down court late in the first half Tuesday night, the Pelicans seemed to dig in and say they would no longer allow sand to be kicked in their faces.

Forward Anthony Davis scored 22 of his game-high 35 points in the first half and the Pelicans erased a 17-point deficit en route to a 114-99 victory over Minnesota at the Smoothie King Center.

In winning for the third time in four games, the Pelicans (14-27) roared back from a 38-21 first-quarter deficit. It was the fifth time this season Minnesota (13-30) had lost a lead of at least 17 points.

"That's what we've got to do -- we've got to be a physical team," said Davis, who said the confrontation between Anderson and Garnett, which resulted in two free throws for Garnett, fired up the Pelicans.

"That says a lot about Ryan," Davis said. "He's a tough guy. We know how K.G. is. It's good because it kind of got us going. We just wanted to make sure we're tough and fight back. We just can't get pushed around. If we're pushed. We'll fight back without doing anything stupid. Just make our presence felt."

Minnesota made 15 of its first 20 shots and raced to a 38-21 lead late in the first quarter. But after the Pelicans tightened up their defense in the second quarter, they turned up the defensive pressure even more in the second half, outscoring the Timberwolves 63-39 in the second half to secure their sixth consecutive victory over Minnesota.

"They had 38 in the first quarter and 61 the rest of the way over three quarters, so I think we did a good job with that," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "The big thing is we locked in defensively so we started running off of misses rather than running off of makes."

Minnesota interim coach Sam Mitchell said after the Timberwolves shot 53 percent from the floor in the first half on their way to a 60-51 lead -- with 12 assists on 21 made field goals -- his team stopped moving the ball. They had just six assists in the second half.

"I thought the first 24 minutes we played as well as we could play offensively," Mitchell said. "We were moving the ball, getting open shots, getting to the free-throw line. For whatever reason in the second half, we stopped passing the basketball. Everybody started calling for the ball. If you pass the basketball, it's going to find the open guy."

New Orleans held Minnesota scoreless for 10 consecutive possessions at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter to pull away.

Guard Jrue Holiday had 19 points and nine assists and guard Tyreke Evans added 13 points and five assists for the Pelicans.

Minnesota was led by guard Andrew Wiggins with 21 points and rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Pelicans closed the third quarter on a 7-1 to take an 82-75 lead into the final period. They did it by scoring four points in the final five seconds -- with Holiday hitting a 14-foot floater on the side of the lane and forward Dante Cunningham alertly intercepting a lazy inbounds pass from Zach LaVine for a buzzer-beating layup.

"The game changed when Dante made that play," Davis said. "I thought that was the biggest play of the game. That play really got us going and gave us the spark we needed."

Cunningham's steal and layup capped a 31-15 quarter for New Orleans.

"Those are young mistakes," Mitchell said. "First of all, Zach shouldn't be taking the ball out. The four-man's got to be taking the ball out. Zach should be pushing the ball. That shouldn't happen, but young teams do some young things."

Minnesota guard Ricky Rubio said his team got stagnant on offense in the second half.

"We slowed our pace, and they got aggressive," Rubio said. "We started to get selfish. That is not the way we need to play. We can't blame everything on the young guys because they don't have enough experience."

NOTES: Pelicans SG Eric Gordon fractured his right ring finger, and coach Alvin Gentry said there was no timetable yet on his return. ... Gentry said the Pelicans' season-long seven-game home stand is critical to any hopes of their sneaking into the playoffs. "That's exactly what it is," Gentry said. "We have to do well on this home stand if we have any chance." ... Pelicans SG Tyreke Evans played despite a sore right knee. "I think he probably has pain, but anybody that knows Tyreke knows that he's an extremely tough guy and he's going to try to be out there any opportunity that he can," Gentry said. ... Minnesota interim coach Sam Mitchell said breaking a nine-game losing streak with a 117-87 rout of Phoenix on Sunday was like lifting a heavy weight. "You lose nine games in a row, I just think it's good for everybody," Mitchell said. "But the NBA is short-lived, and hopefully that feeling of winning resonates with good positive thoughts."