NEW ORLEANS _ Both Minnesota and New Orleans were in the top four in the NBA in pace entering Tuesday night. They were also in the bottom 10 in defensive rating, and Tuesday's game lived up to the fast-paced, high-scoring billing it figured to be.
The Wolves had a little more fuel.
They outlasted the Pelicans, 139-134, thanks to a strong fourth quarter to pick up their second win in four games. The offense got on track after a sloppy showing Sunday against Dallas.
Malik Beasley was on fire most of the night and finished with 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting. D'Angelo Russell didn't have his best night shooting but hit some big shots in the fourth on his way to 23 points and eight assists. Naz Reid had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The Wolves took a game that was a few possession difference most of the night and played some of their best basketball down the stretch boosted by a zone defense late that the Pelicans couldn't shoot over. Jrue Holiday had 27 for the Pelicans. Brandon Ingram had 24 while rookie Zion Williamson had 25. The Pelicans shot just 2 for 11 from 3-point range in the fourth.
The opening minutes of the game weren't very kind to the Wolves, who committed four turnovers in the first five minutes. Those turnovers helped lead to three dunks for Williamson. The Wolves were down 16-11 when Saunders called timeout to get the Wolves to regroup. They did, as James Johnson provided a steady hand off the bench with seven points while Russell had nine. They helped prevent the Pelicans from running the Wolves off the floor early.
The Pelicans created some separation early in the second quarter.
There were more dunks from Williamson, who had 13 by the half, and the Pelicans were clobbering the Wolves in transition with 10 fast-break points. They led 50-38, but wouldn't score another fast-break point the rest of the quarter as the Wolves were able to reverse course. The run started when Jordan McLaughlin ran the offense with Russell on the bench. McLaughlin has been playing the Wolves system longer than anybody in uniform Tuesday night and with him pushing the pace, the Wolves made their run. A couple baskets from LSU alum Reid and an impressive layup from McLaughlin as he drove around Williamson brought the Wolves back within 51-50. They continued pressing from there.
Beasley got involved and scored 10 points during the run as the Wolves turned that 12-point deficit into a 70-63 lead with 55 seconds remaining in the half. The Wolves went into the locker room ahead 72-68. The Wolves scored a season-high 44 points in the second quarter. They had eight turnovers in the first quarter, just three in the second.
The race resumed in the third quarter, with New Orleans getting back to what it did well through the first 18 minutes of the game _ running. New Orleans went on a 7-0 run and regained an 83-77 lead, prompting another timeout from Ryan Saunders.
This was the quarter Ingram got in gear. He had eight points in the first half but erupted for 16 in the third as he benefited from the Pelicans' transition game.
But the Wolves didn't let New Orleans build its lead into double digits as it did in the second quarter, and they trailed just 111-109 entering the fourth.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Williamson went back to work again, as he scored six points.
McLaughlin appeared to get injured on a drive at the 8:28 mark and got up holding his head as he went to the bench, Russell checked back in for him and he remained on the bench with the Wolves down four. A put-back from Reid gave the Wolves a 122-120 lead at the 6:52 mark and their switch to a zone defense was working as New Orleans went cold from outside. That enabled the Wolves to take their biggest lead of the night, 129-122, with 4:19 to play. They would push that to nine and hang on down the stretch.
