The Timberwolves displayed a mark of a good team Wednesday at Target Center: They blew out a team they should blow out.

Facing a Pelicans team down three starters and six rotational pieces in total, Minnesota dominated every facet of the game from start to winning, cruising to a 122-101 victory.

Minnesota’s offense was rolling, as the Timberwolves hit five of their first six 3-point attempts and never looked back. Pick any player, and he surely shined offensively.

Anthony Edwards tallied 26 points and eight assists. Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Rudy Gobert finished with 17 points — including 9-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line — and 20 rebounds. Mike Conley had 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting. Even Nickeil Alexander-Walker tallied eight assists off the bench.

As a team, the Wolves shot 55 percent from the field and 41 percent from deep.

Minnesota scored 72 points in the first half alone. It hasn’t been uncommon in recent years for the Wolves to hang those types of big numbers in the first 24 minutes of a game. But those types of explosions usually led to maybe 15-point leads, as the opponent would also score 55-plus points.

But that wasn’t the case Wednesday, as Minnesota (5-2) continued to flex its defensive muscle. The Pelicans (4-4) — who were sans stars such as CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson — scored just 44 points in the first half.

The game was over at the break. The second half was largely an exhibition flush with highlight reel plays, with alley-oops off the backboard, windmill dunks from Edwards and even a few jaw-dropping blocked shots.

Minnesota is 5-0 at Target Center this season after playing in front of another packed house Wednesday.

The Timberwolves are playing elite defense on a nightly basis. When you do that, you’re far less likely to lose to inferior opponents. And when you pair that defensive effort with strong shooting nights, blowouts are often the end result.

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