Z-43: Zion Williamson's Late Heroics Lead Pels Past Wolves
Over the final 2:43 seconds of the fourth quarter, what had been Timberwolves versus Pelicans became Timberwolves versus Zion Williamson.
And the Timberwolves blinked.
Williamson scored a career-high 43 points, including the final 14 points of the game for New Orleans as the Pelicans overcame an 11-point deficit to beat Minnesota 119-118 in front of a sellout crowd at the Smoothie King Center.
Zion scored 33 points in the second half as he got whatever shots he wanted at the rim and tied Anthony Davis for the franchise record for points in a half.
When he didn't, he got fouled. And when Zion got fouled he made his free throws.
Over the final 24 minutes Williamson was 10-for-14 from the floor and 12-of-15 at the free throw line, including the game winner with 3.5 seconds remaining.
The Pelicans extended their winning streak to four games and improved to 14-1 against teams .500 and under.
The outcome was in doubt up until Williamson decided to take over.
Following a D'Angelo Russell layup put the Wolves up 112-107, Zion casually knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing to bring the Pelicans to within two.
On his next attempt, he tied the score at 112. Minnesota would respond with a jumper from Jaylen Nowell to retake the lead.
Each time the T-Wolves stepped ahead, Zion punched back.
And then came the haymaker.
Over the span of 11 seconds Williamson scored on a layup, stole an errant pass from Russell and then finished it off with a thunderous two-handed slam to put the Pelicans up 118-116 with :39 to play.
Anthony Edwards, who tied Russell with a team-high 27 for Minnesota, tied the game once more with a dunk of his own, setting up Williamson's moment at the free throw line.
Zion drove to the basket, drawing a sixth foul from Rudy Gobert, and earning a pair of shots.
After knocking down the first, Williamson missed the second. The Wolves had one last shot to win the game, but Edwards' jumper missed badly as the clock expired.
Minnesota shot it better than New Orleans, outscored the Pelicans in the paint, and turned it over fewer times.
But they didn't have Zion Williamson.
Coming off a three-game absence due to illness, Williamson finished the night having made 14 of his 21 field goal attempts and 14 of his 19 free throws.
Trey Murphy III scored 21 points, his seventh 20-point game of the season, and made five of six attempts from beyond the arc.
CJ McCollum added 20 points and six assists and Jonas Valanciunas collected his 15th double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards.
Naji Marshall followed up his career-high 22 on Monday with 12 points and seven rebounds.
New Orleans improves to 15-4 at home and prepares to host the Philadelphia 76ers to close out this home stand on Friday.
