MINNEAPOLIS -- Amid speculation that their head coach wouldn't be back next season, the Minnesota Timberwolves closed out the 2015-16 season with an impressive flourish.

The Timberwolves routed the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 144-109 Wednesday at Target Center, setting a franchise record for the most points in a game. It sent Minnesota into the offseason on a positive note, even as news eventually surfaced that Sam Mitchell's tenure with the Timberwolves was officially over.

Just over an hour after the conclusion of Wednesday's game, the Timberwolves sent out a release that said Mitchell had been relieved of his head coaching duties, effective immediately. The organization will now begin a search for a new head coach, as well as a new head of basketball operations.

"It's always something that we can't control. It's not our job," Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio said when asked about Mitchell's future. "Our job is coming here and just play hard."

Mitchell said before Wednesday's game that he had met with owner Glen Taylor earlier in the day to discuss the job Mitchell did after taking over for the late Flip Saunders. Saunders passed away from Hodgkin's lymphoma just before the season began.

After the game, but before the news became official, Mitchell remained optimistic that he had a chance to return to Minnesota next season as the head coach.

"First of all, I'm happy that Mr. Taylor gave me the opportunity," Mitchell said. "Given the circumstances, he could have done a lot of other things. Now we just go through the process and continue to work."

With Wednesday's victory, Minnesota (29-53) closed the season with wins in of four of its last five games. The Timberwolves played the season finale after reports surfaced before the game that Mitchell likely won't return as coach next year and the organization will use a search firm to find its next head coach. Milt Newton, who gives up the role of head of basketball operations, will remain general manager until new management is transitioned in.

Despite that, Minnesota tallied a season high in points, topping their previous high of 132.

Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, the apparent front-runner for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, had 28 points -- 20 in the first half -- and 14 rebounds to lead the way for Minnesota. Towns finished his first year in the NBA with 51 double-doubles in 82 games. He came out of Wednesday's game to a standing ovation with 6:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, embracing Mitchell on the bench as he exited.

Six different Timberwolves scored in double figures. Shabazz Muhammad matched Towns with 28 points off the bench, while Gorgui Dieng added 20 points and 11 boards.

When asked about Mitchell's future, Minnesota's players gave their support to their head coach.

"That's the owner's decision, but me personally, I love all the coaches," said second-year forward Andrew Wiggins. "I wish they'd come back next year. I hope they do. We all have a relationship together. I think we're all growing together. I feel like it's a process and everything's not going to be built in one year. I think as the year go on and the games go on, we're only going to get better."

New Orleans (30-52) was playing short-handed, as just seven healthy players were available for head coach Alvin Gentry in Wednesday's finale. That left just Tim Frazier and Kendrick Perkins as options off the bench for Gentry. James Ennis led the way for the Pelicans with 28 points, while Omer Asik scored 24 in the loss.

Minnesota led by as many as 30 points in the first half before Asik cut into the deficit by scoring 10 straight points for the Pelicans. The Wolves shot 63.6 percent in the first half, while New Orleans shot just 38.8 percent from the floor before halftime. Minnesota finished with an impressive 65.1 percent mark.

"They've got two guys that are going to be great players in this league for a lot of years," Gentry said. "Obviously we were just overmatched and short-handed and the effort was there but you know we just got so tired."

The game was never close, and Minnesota -- which had a penchant for letting big leads slip away this season -- never relented. The Timberwolves' lead grew to as many as 41 points in the second half as their season ended on a high note.

NOTES: Minnesota will reportedly use a search firm to find the team's next head coach. Timberwolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell met with owner Glen Taylor on Wednesday to talk about the job Mitchell did this season in taking over for the late Flip Saunders. "You just hope you've done enough to prove that you're deserving to keep going forward with this team," Mitchell said before Wednesday's game. ... Pelicans F Luke Babbitt did not play in Wednesday's season finale due to food poisoning. "Whatever he ate didn't agree with him," said New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry. Babbitt averaged 7.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game this season. Without Babbitt, the short-handed Pelicans had just seven players available for Wednesday's game. ... Four Timberwolves players played in all 82 games this season. That list includes G Ricky Rubio, F/C Karl-Anthony Towns, G Shabazz Muhammad and C Gorgui Dieng. Minnesota is the only team in the NBA this year to have four players appear in all 82 regular-season games.