As he’s been during much of his recent stretch of strong offensive play, Karl-Anthony Towns was quick and decisive when it mattered most Saturday in New Orleans.

With Minnesota trailing by one in the final 10 seconds of the game, Towns quickly attacked the smaller Dyson Daniels, got to the edge of the paint and threw a floater off the glass to give Minnesota a one-point edge.

“It was a real skilled move. He’s got a lot of skill,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters postgame. “We’ve really been harping on him trying to clean up his game offensively. And he’s got so much talent that if he just focuses on the simple things done really, really well, he doesn’t need to kind of create a lot of extra activity around his game. … And he’s really taken to that, so that would be a clear example.”

Brandon Ingram missed a decent look a few seconds later, and Minnesota escaped New Orleans with a 121-120 victory Saturday.

The Wolves won four of their five games on the road trip, even while not playing particularly well on the back half of it. Minnesota was unimpressive in its win over short-handed Golden State on Tuesday, was blown out Wednesday in New Orleans and struggled for much of Saturday’s bout against New Orleans, which edged Denver the night prior.

On the second half of a back to back, the Pelicans were without C.J. McCollum and Zion Williamson, yet they controlled play for much of Saturday’s game. New Orleans got whatever it wanted offensively, shooting 51% from the field and 41% from 3-point range.

Thus far this season, Minnesota’s dominant defense largely does not travel. But it stepped up offensively Saturday, mirroring the Pelicans’ shooting percentages. And, as was the case for much of this road trip, Towns was the best player on the floor. Along with the game-winner, Towns finished with 29 points — on 10-for-11 shooting — to go with nine assists and six rebounds.

Not only did he hit that final shot, but with two minutes to play the Wolves trailed by four. And Towns passed up an OK look from deep and instead swung the ball to a wide-open Anthony Edwards, who cashed a triple to bring the Wolves to within one. The next time down, Towns hit a three of his own to put Minnesota up two.

“He was good. And I thought he was not only good, but timely,” Finch said. “Played a real clean offensively game. Shot it, drove it, drew a crowd. He was outstanding, and he’s been playing really, really well.”

His play helped lift Minnesota to victory on a night where it surrendered 20 second-chance points, 18 points off turnovers and 15 fast-break points.

There is much for the Timberwolves (9-3) to continue to improve upon, but they finished Saturday’s game in the top spot in the Western Conference standings. They got there Saturday by outscoring the Pelicans by 11 points in the final frame after struggling for much of the evening.

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