The New Orleans Pelicans lost another overtime heartbreaker on Tuesday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves walked away with a 149-142 victory.
It was similar to the last two overtime matches. A super close-fought battle up until the clock hits zero on regulation, and then they come out of the break slow, letting the teams build up a quick lead.
The Pelicans now drop to 3-19 on the year. New Orleans really needed this one.
Vibes around the Pelicans were not super high entering the game. Earlier in the day, the news had come out that Zion Williamson was going to miss "an extended period of time" due to an adductor injury.
It was the same old, same old surrounding the team's star and the fanbase continued to be fed up. The amount of empty seats in the Smoothie King Center reflected that.
It didn't take long for the fans that did show up to the game to buy in, though, as the team showed a ton of fight. After how poorly they started off against the Los Angeles Lakers, not getting completely run off the court in the first quarter was a win.
The second quarter was one probably the best individual quarters that the Pelicans have played as a team this season. James Borrego was calling the right plays, the team was playing ultra-fast and the shots were falling.
New Orleans outscored Minnesota 43-27 in that frame alone. What's really impressive is the fact that they played so many young players in those minutes. Trey Alexander had played 21 minutes all season long, in that last game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and he played eight in that frame and finished +6.
The effort was clear. That's not something that could be said all season long.
Anthony Edwards, inevitably, took over in the second half and helped the Timberwolves climb back into the game. After scoring just 10 points in the first two quarters on one three. He finished with 44 points after hitting five threes in the second half alone. He played all of overtime and the second half.
Rudy Gobert also proved to be a lot to handle. Tall, strong centers have given them headaches all year long (see: Zach Edey).
After that strong start, Minnesota fought back to force overtime.
Trey Murphy, Jeremiah Fears and Saddiq Bey all had good nights, but they would likely have rather had the game.