Game ID: 22300203
Minnesota Timberwolves @ New Orleans Pelicans
Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 7:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 35 29 31 25 120MIN 27 32 26 36 121
MIN @ NOP ScoutingMIN @ NOP Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
NOP availability going into 11/10 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 2 since 11/06, out tonight
BACK Ingram back 11/04 after 3, 33 min since (100% of 33)
NEW Hawkins 17 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 25 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/12 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 3 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Jones missed 2 since 11/08, out tonight
BACK Ingram back 11/04 after 3, 34 min since (104% of 33)
NEW Daniels 22 to 28 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 33 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 24 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/14 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 4 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Jones missed 3 since 11/08, returns tonight: 31 min (99% of 31)
BACK Ingram back 11/04 after 3, 34 min since (102% of 33)
NEW Daniels 22 to 29 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 22 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/17 · 2 days' restOUT McCollum missed 5 since 11/06, out tonight
BACK Jones back 11/14 after 3, 31 min since (99% of 31)
NEW Daniels 22 to 31 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 34 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 23 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/18 · back-to-backOUT McCollum missed 6 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 2 since 11/14, out tonight
BACK Jones back 11/14 after 3, 34 min since (110% of 31)
NEW Daniels 22 to 33 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 22 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/20 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 7 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 3 since 11/14, out tonight
OUT Alvarado missed 2 since 11/17, returns tonight: 15 min (84% of 18)
BACK Jones back 11/14 after 3, 32 min since (104% of 31)
NEW Daniels 22 to 34 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 33 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 22 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/22 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 8 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 4 since 11/14, returns tonight: 12 min (62% of 20)
BACK Jones back 11/14 after 3, 31 min since (100% of 31)
BACK Alvarado back 11/20 after 2, 15 min since (84% of 18)
NEW Daniels 22 to 31 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 30 min over the last 5
NEW Ryan 14 to 23 min over the last 4
NOP availability going into 11/24 · 1 day's restOUT McCollum missed 9 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Ryan missed 2 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Jones back 11/14 after 3, 32 min since (105% of 31)
BACK Nance Jr. back 11/22 after 4, 12 min since (62% of 20)
BACK Alvarado back 11/20 after 2, 17 min since (93% of 18)
NEW Daniels 22 to 31 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 29 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 11/25 · back-to-backOUT McCollum missed 10 since 11/06, out tonight
OUT Ryan missed 3 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Nance Jr. back 11/22 after 4, 16 min since (82% of 20)
BACK Alvarado back 11/20 after 2, 16 min since (90% of 18)
NEW Daniels 22 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Hawkins 17 to 27 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 11/10 · 1 day's rest
full strength
MIN availability going into 11/12 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 2 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/14 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 3 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/15 · back-to-backOUT McLaughlin missed 4 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/18 · 2 days' restOUT McLaughlin missed 5 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/20 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 6 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/22 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 7 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/24 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 8 since 11/08, out tonight
MIN availability going into 11/26 · 1 day's restOUT McDaniels missed 2 since 11/22, out tonight
OUT McLaughlin missed 9 since 11/08, out tonight
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 39 from three, 25 free throws a game; Ingram at 24 and Williamson at 22 a game. Without McCollum (6 straight), Nance Jr. (2 straight). Second night of a back-to-back. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 35 from three, 26 free throws a game; Towns at 26 and Edwards at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and New Orleans minus-1 and the arc, New Orleans at 39 percent from three to Minnesota's 35. Call it Minnesota 114, New Orleans 111, New Orleans keeping it close.
11/10 @ HOU 101-104 — NOP notes
NOP lost 101-104. NOP shot 45% (34 of 75) to HOU's 41%, 8 of 25 from three, and went to the line 34 times to HOU's 28 — 25 points from the stripe to their 22. NOP turned it over 18 times to HOU's 9, and HOU turned those into 9 steals. Ingram led with 31 (11 of 24, 3 of 11 from three, 6 of 9 at the line); Williamson added 24, Valančiūnas 15. Q3 was theirs, 31-16, turning a 6-point deficit into a 9-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 88-70 against them. They led by as many as 10. Ryan's -9 in 16 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/12 vs DAL 124-136 — NOP notes
NOP lost 124-136. NOP shot 51% (47 of 92) to DAL's 49%, 17 of 36 from three. NOP turned it over 18 times to DAL's 6. The glass went 54-42 for them. Ingram led with 20 (9 of 17, 1 of 3 from three); Williamson added 18, Daniels 17. Q4 was theirs, 39-27, the deficit cut from 24 to 12, but the other 3 periods went 109-85 against them. Daniels's -29 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/14 vs DAL 131-110 — NOP notes
NOP won 131-110. NOP shot 52% (49 of 94) to DAL's 42%, 14 of 38 from three. NOP turned it over 12 times to DAL's 20. Ingram led with 25 (11 of 20, 1 of 5 from three); Hawkins added 25, Jones 19. The hinge was Q3, 44-31: a lead of 16 became 29, and the lead reached 33. Valančiūnas was the night's best plus/minus at +22.
11/17 vs DEN 115-110 — NOP notes
NOP won 115-110. NOP shot 52% (46 of 88) to DEN's 49%, 12 of 23 from three, and went to the line 21 times to DEN's 12 — 11 points from the stripe to their 6. The glass went 39-51 against them. Williamson led with 26 (10 of 17, 5 of 11 at the line); Valančiūnas added 22, Ingram 21. The hinge was Q1, 36-28: from level to 8 ahead, and the lead reached 20. Williamson was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
11/18 vs MIN 120-121 — NOP notes
NOP lost 120-121. NOP shot 51% (44 of 86) to MIN's 54%, 12 of 29 from three. Ingram led with 30 (11 of 24, 1 of 6 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Valančiūnas added 26, Hawkins 15. Q1 was theirs, 35-27, but the other 3 periods went 94-85 against them. They led by as many as 15.
11/20 vs SAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 116, shooting 51 percent and 42 from three, 25 free throws a game; Ingram at 25 and Williamson at 22 a game. Without McCollum (7 straight), Nance Jr. (3 straight), Alvarado (2 straight). One day's rest. Sacramento comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 112, shooting 51 percent and 39 from three, 21 free throws a game; Fox at 32 and Sabonis at 26 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 4 a night. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: New Orleans wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it New Orleans 117, Sacramento 116, Sacramento keeping it close.
11/22 vs SAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New Orleans comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 114, shooting 52 percent and 44 from three, 23 free throws a game; Ingram at 25 and Williamson at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without McCollum (8 straight), Nance Jr. (4 straight). One day's rest. Sacramento comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 118, shooting 51 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Fox at 29 and Sabonis at 24 a game. One day's rest.
So: New Orleans wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New Orleans has been plus-5 a night and Sacramento minus-2 and the arc, New Orleans at 44 percent from three to Sacramento's 38. Call it New Orleans 119, Sacramento 115, Sacramento keeping it close.
11/24 @ LAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Clippers come in 3-2 over their last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 103, shooting 45 percent and 37 from three, 26 free throws a game; George at 27 and Leonard at 20 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 109, shooting 51 percent and 39 from three, 26 free throws a game; Ingram at 26 and Williamson at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. Without McCollum (9 straight). One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it the Clippers 113, New Orleans 111, New Orleans keeping it close.
11/25 @ UTA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Utah comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 124, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 24 free throws a game; Markkanen at 23 and Clarkson at 22 a game. That is 4 straight losses. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Kessler (7 straight), Hendricks (14 straight), Sensabaugh (14 straight). 2 days' rest. New Orleans comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 108, shooting 51 percent and 40 from three, 26 free throws a game; Williamson at 27 and Ingram at 27 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 7 a night. Without McCollum (10 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: New Orleans wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, New Orleans allowing 108 a night to Utah's 124 and the arc, New Orleans at 40 percent from three to Utah's 32. Call it New Orleans 118, Utah 115, Utah keeping it close.
11/10 @ SAS 117-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 117-110. MIN shot 49% (43 of 87) to SAS's 47%, 10 of 27 from three, and went to the line 27 times to SAS's 19 — 21 points from the stripe to their 12. The glass went 51-38 for them. Towns led with 29 (11 of 21, 3 of 7 from three); Edwards added 28, Gobert 11. The hinge was Q3, 34-19: a lead of 2 became 17. Alexander-Walker was the night's best plus/minus at +11.
11/12 @ GSW 116-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 116-110. MIN shot 52% (43 of 82) to GSW's 39%, 9 of 27 from three. Edwards led with 33 (11 of 27, 1 of 9 from three, 10 of 10 at the line); Towns added 21, McDaniels 13. The hinge was Q3, 35-22: a lead of 3 became 16. Edwards was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
11/14 @ GSW 104-101 — MIN notes
MIN won 104-101. MIN shot 44% (36 of 81) to GSW's 42%, 14 of 34 from three. Towns led with 33 (12 of 26, 5 of 12 from three); Edwards added 20, Conley 13. The hinge was Q4, 28-18: MIN came in trailing by 7 and left it ahead by 3. MIN trailed 54-59 at the half and won the second half 50-42. Conley was the night's best plus/minus at +12.
11/15 @ PHX 115-133 — MIN notes
MIN lost 115-133. MIN shot 46% (42 of 92) to PHX's 60%, 5 of 27 from three, and went to the line 28 times to PHX's 15 — 26 points from the stripe to their 14. Towns led with 25 (10 of 17, 0 of 4 from three); Conley added 14, Edwards 13. Q4 was theirs, 33-23, the deficit cut from 28 to 18, but the other 3 periods went 110-82 against them. Edwards's -29 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/18 @ NOP 121-120 — MIN notes
MIN won 121-120. MIN shot 54% (43 of 80) to NOP's 51%, 13 of 31 from three. Towns led with 29 (10 of 11, 7 of 8 at the line); Edwards added 23, Gobert 17. The hinge was Q4, 36-25: MIN came in trailing by 10 and left it ahead by 1. MIN trailed 59-64 at the half and won the second half 62-56. Edwards was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
11/20 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 115, shooting 49 percent and 35 from three, 27 free throws a game; Towns at 27 and Edwards at 23 a game. One day's rest. New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 108, shooting 49 percent and 43 from three, 21 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Randle at 24 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 9 a night. Without Grimes (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, New York at 43 percent from three to Minnesota's 35 and the glass, where New York has been plus-9 a night and Minnesota plus-1. Call it New York 112, Minnesota 111, Minnesota keeping it close.
11/22 vs PHI — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 113, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 28 free throws a game; Towns at 26 and Edwards at 22 a game. One day's rest. Philadelphia comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 117, shooting 47 percent and 38 from three, 27 free throws a game; Embiid at 31 and Maxey at 24 a game. Without Oubre Jr. (6 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Minnesota wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it Minnesota 116, Philadelphia 113, Philadelphia keeping it close.
11/24 vs SAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 35 from three, 26 free throws a game; Towns at 26 and Edwards at 22 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest. Sacramento comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 118, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 24 free throws a game; Fox at 28 and Sabonis at 24 a game. Without Ellis (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the defense, Minnesota allowing 111 a night to Sacramento's 118. Call it Minnesota 116, Sacramento 111.
11/26 @ MEM — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Memphis comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 101 a night and allowing 113, shooting 40 percent and 33 from three, 21 free throws a game; Bane at 20 and Aldama at 20 a game. That is 3 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Morant (15 straight), Smart (4 straight), Kennard (4 straight). One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 115, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 28 free throws a game; Edwards at 25 and Towns at 25 a game. Without McDaniels (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the line, where Minnesota takes 28 free throws a game to Memphis's 21 and the glass, where Minnesota has been minus-1 a night and Memphis minus-6. Call it Minnesota 112, Memphis 109, Memphis keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
JM J. McDaniels
KA K. Anderson
KT K. Towns
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
SM S. Milton
NOPBI B. Ingram
CZ C. Zeller
DD D. Daniels
HJ H. Jones
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
JV J. Valančiūnas
MR M. Ryan
NM N. Marshall
VA Valanciunas
MIN/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Towns' 29 points and late scoring leads Timberwolves past Pelicans 121-120
NEW ORLEANS -- — Karl-Anthony Towns broke from a sideline huddle knowing his next shot likely would decide whether the Minnesota Timberwolves escaped New Orleans with a comeback victory or lost their second straight.
High-scoring Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards had fouled out with 10 seconds left, the Pelicans led by a point, and Wolves coach Chris Finch drew up a play for his dynamic forward.
“You play the whole game to hopefully have an opportunity to be in that situation; I looked at it as the funest part of the night,” Towns said. “This game’s supposed to be fun and I had a lot of fun in that situation.”
Towns capped a 29-point, nine-assist performance with a running floater off the glass with 5 seconds left, and Minnesota overcame a 14-point deficit in the final 7:32 to beat New Orleans 121-120 on Saturday night.
Edwards scored 23 points before fouling out while guarding Brandon Ingram along the perimeter. But Ingram missed one of his two free throws, allowing Towns to put Minnesota in front from close range.
The Pelicans still had a shot to win it as time ran out, but Ingram, who had a game-high-30 points, missed a mid-range jumper. That capped a difficult closing stretch for the New Orleans star, who made just one shot and turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter.
“Our execution went away a little bit,” Ingram said. “I don't think I did a good job of kind of settling us down, getting into plays and trying to get the right execution down the stretch.”
New Orleans led 108-94 with 8:04 left after Matt Ryan 's third 3 of the game, but momentum turned quickly when Towns drew Herb Jones' fifth foul. That started a 7-0 Minnesota run that included a breakaway layup and transition 3 by Pelican Nickeil Alexander-Walker .
“It was a tough game for us. We were behind the score the whole game,” Minnesota center Rudy Gobert said, adding that “the poise that we showed the whole game” separates this season’s edition of the Wolves from that of a year ago.
Added Towns, “We definitely showed heart, our mental fortitude and the toughness our team has to find a way to win even when things are not going right.”
Towns did not miss any of his three field goals or five foul shots in the fourth quarter, when he scored 12, including a 3 that gave Minnesota its first lead of the second half at 119-117.
“Tonight I thought was one of the best games I've watched him play,” Gobert said. “He's a very smart player, obviously, a very unique player. When he does that he's an incredible weapon for us.”
Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the T-Wolves. Jaden McDaniels added 12 points.
Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans. Jones had 13 points and a career-high eight assists to go with two steals and two blocks, but fouled out in the final minute.
New Orleans was playing without start power forward Zion Williamson , who was being rested on what was the second of three games in four nights. The Pelicans also were without CJ McCollum for a seventh straight game as the high-scoring veteran guard continue to recover from a partially collapsed lung.
Still, they led for most of the game and by as many as 15 points.
New Orleans started 7 of 10 from from deep and led 43-28 when Daniels hit from deep on the left wing.
Minnesota closed the gap when Towns got in rhythm, scoring 10 points in just more than four minutes on a couple mid-range fades, a short hook and a pair of layups.
Gobert's free throws cut New Orleans lead to 64-59 at halftime.