Minnesota Timberwolves – New Orleans Pelicans · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 28 December 2022

MIN118–119NOP

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 96% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 36 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ NOP winsMIN wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when NOP leads and falls when MIN does.

This is how the game was decided.

Zion Williamson decided it, the New Orleans Pelicans player with the most points (43, with 3 rebounds and 5 assists; +3 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Trey Murphy III's (+10). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in New Orleans Pelicans 119-118 Minnesota Timberwolves (December 28, 2022) was hit by Zion Williamson: a free throw with 4.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the New Orleans Pelicans up 119-118. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of New Orleans Pelicans 119-118 Minnesota Timberwolves (December 28, 2022) was a 10-0 run by the New Orleans Pelicans between the third quarter and the fourth quarter, from 81-88 to 91-88. The Minnesota Timberwolves' best was a 9-0 run in the second quarter (from 4:39 to 3:10), from 41-39 to 50-39.

What were the keys of the last New Orleans Pelicans vs Minnesota Timberwolves game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Zion Williamson makes free throw 1 of 2.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Zion Williamson decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 4 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 2 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Williamson decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

28 December 2022 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401468675:709; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · MIN

Edwards · Russell · McDaniels · Reid · Nowell

Closing lineup · NOP

McCollum · Marshall · Williamson · Daniels · Hayes

Q1Q2Q3Q4

MIN

Anthony Edwards

39′ · -5

D'Angelo Russell

38′ · +5

Jaden McDaniels

34′ · +2

Austin Rivers

33′ · -10

Rudy Gobert

29′ · -6

Naz Reid

25′ · +6

Jaylen Nowell

25′ · -2

Bryn Forbes

13′ · +4

Nathan Knight

3′ · +1

NOP

CJ McCollum

37′ · +3

Naji Marshall

35′ · +3

Zion Williamson

34′ · +3

Jonas Valanciunas

29′ · +2

Trey Murphy III

27′ · +10

Larry Nance Jr.

16′ · -1

Dyson Daniels

18′ · -5

Devonte' Graham

16′ · +2

Jose Alvarado

11′ · -10

Jaxson Hayes

17′ · -2

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. MIN and NOP.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell, Edwards, McDaniels, Rivers, and Gobert played 9.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Russell, Nowell, Edwards, McDaniels, and Gobert played 7.6 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Russell, Reid, Edwards, McDaniels, and Rivers played 5.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.

New Orleans Pelicans

Williamson, Marshall, Murphy, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 13.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Graham, Hayes, Marshall, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Hayes, Marshall, Alvarado, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Minnesota Timberwolves

Forbes, Reid, Edwards, Rivers, and Gobert played 4.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Russell, Nowell, McDaniels, Rivers, and Gobert played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Russell, Forbes, Nowell, Reid, and McDaniels played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Forbes, Nowell, Reid, Edwards, and Rivers played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Russell, Reid, Edwards, Knight, and Rivers played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Russell, Nowell, Reid, Edwards, and Knight played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Russell, Nowell, Reid, Edwards, and Rivers played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Reid, Edwards, McDaniels, and Gobert played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

New Orleans Pelicans

Graham, Hayes, Marshall, Alvarado, and Valanciunas played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Nance, Williamson, Murphy, Daniels, and McCollum played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Nance, Graham, Williamson, Alvarado, and Daniels played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Nance, Graham, Williamson, Murphy, and Daniels played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Nance, Williamson, Marshall, Murphy, and McCollum played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Williamson, Hayes, Murphy, Daniels, and McCollum played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Williamson, Marshall, Daniels, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Nance, Williamson, Marshall, Daniels, and McCollum played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Graham, Williamson, Hayes, Murphy, and Daniels played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Nance, Marshall, Daniels, Valanciunas, and McCollum played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Nance, Graham, Williamson, Daniels, and McCollum played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Anthony Edwards covered 4.54 km, more than anyone in the game.

D'Angelo Russell touched the ball 96 times, a game high.
D'Angelo Russell made 69 passes, a game high.
Jaden McDaniels defended 12 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 7.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Minnesota Timberwolves

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Anthony Edwards	4.54	6.5	79	48
D'Angelo Russell	4.34	6.3	96	69
Jaden McDaniels	4.23	6.9	61	46
Austin Rivers	3.65	6.1	26	19
Rudy Gobert	3.52	6.8	29	21
Naz Reid	3.11	6.7	37	28
Jaylen Nowell	2.93	6.6	35	22
Bryn Forbes	1.72	7.2	9	6
Nathan Knight	0.40	6.7	5	4

New Orleans Pelicans

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
CJ McCollum	4.47	6.7	87	63
Naji Marshall	4.26	6.7	52	38
Zion Williamson	4.14	6.7	82	47
Jonas Valanciunas	3.35	6.4	59	43
Trey Murphy III	3.23	6.6	27

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2022-23 regular season, not this game.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Rudy Gobert contested 10.1 shots per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 14 of 382 in the league.
Anthony Edwards deflected 2.6 passes per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 24 of 382 in the league.
Jaden McDaniels deflected 2.3 passes per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 41 of 382 in the league.

New Orleans Pelicans

Larry Nance Jr. drew 0.17 charges per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 30 of 382 in the league.
Devonte' Graham drew 0.14 charges per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 38 of 382 in the league.
Jose Alvarado deflected 2.3 passes per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 41 of 382 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 22 of their 46 games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

22-24record of the New Orleans Pelicans · NBA 2013-14 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-3in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2013-14 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

18.669

110.7% of capacity

Smoothie King Center · New Orleans

Scoring

237

combined points

7.6 above the season average (229.4)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

15 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors