The New Orleans Pelicans returned home on Tuesday for a matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves after defeating the Washington Wizards twice over the weekend. Star forward, Zion Williamson made it back on the floor after missing the last two months with a hamstring injury. Anthony Edwards went off early and helped beat the Pelicans 104-97 to drop their record to 7-30 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Minnesota was hot to begin the game, shooting 6-8 from the floor. Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards were all six shots with four of the makes coming from behind the three-point line. Edwards knocked down back-to-back threes to go up 16-4 and force New Orleans to burn a timeout at the 8:51 mark of the first quarter.
Zion Williamson sparked the Pelicans’ offense early by getting a putback layup and having a dunk in transition, which CJ McCollum assisted. Minnesota kept its distance though. Edwards continued to make shots by scoring on consecutive possessions to keep the Timberwolves up by 12 midway through the opening quarter.
New Orleans found a rhythm on offense at the tail end of the period, going on a 17-4 run to take the lead. Dejounte Murray got it started with a steal off of a pass by Mike Conley that converted into a made midrange shot. Three Pelicans players also scored from behind the arc as New Orleans went up 30-29.
The Timberwolves responded with an 11-3 run that began at the end of the first and 70 seconds into the second quarter. Former Pelican Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored twice, including converting an and-one opportunity, and assisted on a three-point make by former LSU Tiger Naz Reid.
The Pels in the back half of the second quarter went on a 10-0 run that lasted almost three minutes to the 2:50 mark of the period. Murray laced multiple three-pointers and Williamson put back his miss to put New Orleans up by five. Edwards scored twice more and Murray knocked down a shot from the elbow with less than a second to go before intermission.
The game was tied at 54 heading into the locker room.
New Orleans jumped out to an eight-point lead early in the third quarter with a 10-2 run. Murray scored the first basket a minute into the period and Williamson scored three times. Two of his makes were dunks that came off of loose ball turnovers by Edwards and Randle.
Minnesota took the lead back on a 19-2 run through the middle part of the quarter as four Timberwolves players scored in that time. Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jaden McDaniels all scored from behind the arc while the lone basket by New Orleans was a layup by Murray. The Pelicans were down 75-66 with 4:40 left in the third.
A Murray dunk and a couple of free throws by Jose Alvarado cut it to a two-point game but another three by Alexander-Walker and an and-one layup by Randle kept the Wolves ahead by eight heading into the final period.
Both teams went back and forth early on in the fourth with Minnesota going up by 13 with a driving layup by Reid less than four minutes in. New Orleans then battled back as Murray scored on back-to-back possessions and rookie Yves Missi slammed it home.
The Pels cut the Wolves’ lead down the stretch. Williamson’s layup and two free throws made it a seven-point game with under two minutes to play before Alvarado hit a three and Murray stole the ball from Edwards and turned it into a fast-break layup. New Orleans was down by three with 29.1 seconds remaining.
Edwards clutched up late and spoiled the comeback attempt by the Pelicans by knocking down four straight shots from the charity stripe. Those efforts helped were enough as the New Orleans lost 104-97 to Minnesota, dropping their record to 7-30.
BIG NUMBER: 28
It had been 28 games since Zion Williamson stepped on the court for the Pelicans and played 28 minutes in his return. The former Duke star finished the night with 22 points on 9-15 shooting and recorded three steals, six rebounds, and four assists. Williamson also miss five out of nine free throw attempts in the loss.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Anthony Edwards
The Timberwolves’ star guard struggled to miss on Tuesday, going for 32 points on 10-21 shooting from the floor and 7-11 from three-point range. Edwards also grabbed nine rebounds, assisted three buckets, and stole the ball twice as the Pelicans lost 104-97 to drop to 7-30 on the season.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Pelicans will host the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday, January 8th. Tipoff in the Smoothie King Center is set for 7:00 and can be seen on the Action Channel KXKW 32.1.
