Zion Williamson scored 25 points, including nine in overtime, as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Memphis Grizzlies 135-134 in overtime on Monday at FedExForum, ending Memphis’s unbeaten start to the season.
Memphis entered the game as the NBA’s last undefeated team, while New Orleans extended its winning run to three games after opening the season with four straight defeats.
Ty Jerome scored a game-high 40 points for Memphis, according to Reuters, and scored nine straight points in the final 1:43 of regulation to tie the game at 124 and force overtime.
Jeremiah Fears hit two free throws with 7.3 seconds left in overtime to put New Orleans ahead by one, Reuters reported, capping a 12-point night for the rookie guard.
Jerome then missed a 15-foot jumper in the final second that would have won the game for Memphis, leaving the Grizzlies with their first defeat after six straight wins.
Williamson answered Jerome in the extra period with nine of New Orleans’s 11 overtime points, while Fears’s free throws were the Pelicans’ only other points in overtime, according to Reuters.
Karlo Matkovic matched Williamson with a career-high 25 points for New Orleans, including five three-pointers, and Derik Queen added 20 points off the bench.
Trey Murphy III scored 18 points for the Pelicans, and six New Orleans players reached double figures in the win.
Cameron Boozer scored 18 points for Memphis, which saw its 6-0 start match the best season-opening run in franchise history before the defeat.
New Orleans led for the entire fourth quarter before Jerome’s late run, pulling ahead 124-115 with 2:36 remaining on a Matkovic three-pointer, Reuters reported.
Memphis won the overtime battle for long stretches through Jerome, who scored eight of the Grizzlies’ 10 points in the extra period, but could not hold the late lead.
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Grizzlies | 31 | 31 | 33 | 29 | 10 | 134 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 34 | 25 | 41 | 24 | 11 | 135 |
The result leaves the NBA without an undefeated team, with Memphis falling to 6-1 and New Orleans improving to 3-4 after its third consecutive victory.
