The New Orleans Pelicans erased an 18-point deficit in their 119-115 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
The New Orleans Pelicans backed up a couple of their worst losses in recent memory with an impressive 119-115 road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This win brings the Pelicans to 14-40 on the year and is made even better by the fact that they came back down from 18 points to pull it off.
New Orleans has been bad in the clutch this season, so it was nice to see the stars step up when it mattered the most.
Zion Williamson had a great night with 29 points on 11-of-13 from the field, including a crucial and-one to take the lead back with 35 seconds left in the game. This is the aggression that many have been calling for him to have down the stretch of these games.
Saddiq Bey also impressed once again with his third game with at least 30 points and his 17th game with at least 20. No one expected him to be one of the highest-volume shooters on this team, but he has consistently been a top option this season.
Making just $6.4 million next year, Bey will be one of the best values in the NBA. Given that the front office wants to win, expect him to be kept around and start coming up in extension talks at some point.
Trey Murphy proved once again that his cold shooting streak is behind him as he finished with 26 points and 6-of-10 from deep. He has made 18 three-pointers over the last two games, which is a franchise record.
One other thing that stood out from this game was the fact that Derik Queen was 4-for-4 on shots from beyond the arc. If he can become a floor spacer, it would open up so much for this offense.
Over the first 49 games of his career, Queen was an 18.6% shooter, making eight of 43. It started to get to a point where it felt like he might need to wait for that to become an offseason project.
Now, over the last four games, he is 6-of-8. It's a small sample size, but a great sign for his future progression. The confidence was oozing off him after that final three. One came from the corner, and then the other three came from up top.
This was just a great team win and the type of game that the front office will look back on when deciding if they are going to continue rolling with James Borrego as the full-time coach next season.
The Pelicans will have two more games before the All-Star break, both at home. Their next will be on Monday at 7 pm CT against the Sacramento Kings.