Former LSU player Naz Reid scored eight of his 19 points during a 15-0 surge at the start of the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time in three nights, 125-116, on Thursday in the Smoothie King Center.
The game featured 17 lead changes and 13 ties before the surge turned a three point Pelicans’ lead into a 12-point Timberwolves’ lead.
Former Pelican Julius Randle scored 28 points for Minnesota, Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Donte DiVincenzo scored 15, Jaden McDaniels had 14, Jaylen Clark scored 12, and Anthony Edwards — who had tied a Minnesota franchise record with six straight games of 30 or more points — finished with 11 after missing the final 10:32 of the third quarter after committing his fourth foul for the Timberwolves (14-8).
Trey Murphy scored 21, Saddiq Bey and Jeremiah Fears scored 20 each, Bryce McGowens had 15, Jose Alvarado scored 13, and Derik Queen had 12 to lead the Pelicans (3-20), who play the Nets in Brooklyn at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Center Karlo Matkovic returned from an eight-game absence because of a strained right calf and scored eight points.
The score was tied at halftime and six more times in the third quarter before Matkovic’s dunk gave New Orleans a 90-88 lead at the end of the quarter.
Reid’s 3-pointer produced the first tie of the fourth quarter, and he made another 3-pointer and a dunk during the 15-0 run that gave the Wolves a 103-91 lead. New Orleans scored just one point in the quarter until Fears made a layup to stop the run with 7:12 remaining.
The closest the Pelicans got the rest of the way was eight points.
The first quarter featured 10 lead changes and four ties, and the Wolves held a 35-30 lead when it was over. Randle, who scored eight of his 16 points in overtime of the 149-142 victory Tuesday, had a carry-over as he scored 10 points in the period, and Fears matched him with 10 points to lead the Pelicans.
Gobert, DiVincenzo and Randle each scored three points during an 11-0 run that gave Minnesota the biggest lead of the first half at 50-40. Matkovic made consecutive dunks to trigger a 22-12 closing run by New Orleans that produced a 62-62 tie at halftime after the Pelicans outscored the Wolves 22-8 in the paint in the second quarter.
