NBA - -The first game's a charm for new Timberwolves Covington and Saric

MINNEAPOLIS - Small Forward Robert "RoCo" Covington and power forward Dario Saric played for the first time as Timberwolves in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes and came with a bang.

Following malcontent Jimmy Butler?s departure to Philadelphia via trade, Andrew Wiggins moved back to shooting guard position and showed his effectiveness as Wolves beat the visiting New Orleans Pelicans, 107-100, on Wednesday night at the Target Center.

As usual Karl Anthony Towns notched a double-double with 25, points while Wiggins added 23. Point guard Jeff Teague had 14, Covington finished with 13, and Josh Olivier with 11.

E?Twaun Moore fired 31 points for the Pelicans and Anthony Davis accounted for 29 points Jrue Holiday while Nikolai Mirotic tallied 16 points apiece for New Orleans.

It was Native Americans Heritage night and a presentation of native American song and dance was presented during the halftime show.

Former Timberwolf Cherokee Parks was among the 11,636 fans at the Target Center.

With former teammates Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in his rear view mirror, Covington played alongside newfound buddies Towns and Wiggins.