Pelicans End Grizzlies' Perfect Start With Overtime Thriller in Memphis

The New Orleans Pelicans have ended the Memphis Grizzlies' perfect start to the season, surviving a wild finish to win 135-134 in overtime on Monday night. Memphis had opened the campaign with six straight wins, matching the best start in franchise history, but could not find one final basket when it mattered most. Ty Jerome almost rescued the hosts single-handedly, scoring the last nine points of regulation to force overtime and finishing with 40 points, but his 15-foot attempt for the win after Jeremiah Fears had put New Orleans ahead with 7.3 seconds left would not fall. Zion Williamson led the visitors with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Karlo Matkovic matched him with a career-high 25 and Derik Queen added 20 off the bench. The win was New Orleans' third in a row after an 0-4 start to the season, a turnaround built on composure in close games. For Memphis, the defeat will sting, but the manner of it showed why they had won six straight: even when the game seemed gone, Jerome dragged them back into it. Rookie Cameron Boozer contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists in defeat. The Pelicans, meanwhile, will take real belief from beating the league's last unbeaten team on its own floor, and from doing it the hard way, in overtime, with the game on the line.