The New Orleans Pelicans trailed by 13 points in the fourth quarter, then came within a fraction of a second of losing in regulation.

Then with a second life in overtime, they quickly fell into a six-point hole.

But Saddiq Bey and a suffocating defense enabled them to dominate the final four minutes of the extra period as New Orleans defeated the Utah Jazz 120-113 Wednesday night in the Smoothie King Center.

Several Pelicans took turns carrying the scoring load during an uneven offensive performance that nonetheless ended with a fourth consecutive victory for New Orleans (4-4), which will play the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. Friday in the Smoothie King Center.

“Your defense allows you to stay in games,” Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Our defense sustained us, and we put it together down the stretch.”

Zion Williamson scored all 23 of his points after halftime; Bey scored eight of his 22 in overtime; Derik Queen scored 18 of his 20 after halftime to spur the comeback; Dejounte Murray scored 20 in his return from a three-game absence to be with his family after the birth of his son; and Jeremiah Fears was steady throughout while scoring 19.

Keyonte George, whose made jumper would have won the game if it hadn’t come a fraction of a second after the fourth-quarter buzzer, made consecutive 3-pointers in the first minute of overtime to give Utah a 110-104 lead. But the Jazz wouldn’t score again for more than four minutes.

In the interim, New Orleans scored on seven consecutive possessions as Williamson and Bey made consecutive layups; Fears scored on a put-back bucket to tie the score; Bey made two free throws, a layup and a jumper from the lane; and Williamson added two free throws.

Lauri Markkanen made a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left to end the Jazz’s scoring drought, but Murray made two free throws to finish the wild game.

George scored 39, including 19 as Utah outscored New Orleans 43-28 in the third quarter — the highest-scoring period by a New Orleans opponent this season after the Pelicans held the Jazz to 37 points in the first half. Markkanen had 21 and Ace Bailey added 15 for the Jazz (1-7), who lost their sixth straight since their only win of the season, a 120-119 home victory against New Orleans on Oct. 23.

Williamson, who missed all four of his field-goal attempts while the Pelicans were taking a 42-37 halftime lead, got his first points by making two free throws with 8:49 left in the third quarter. His first field goal came moments later, and he wound up scoring 11 consecutive New Orleans points.

“He never let the first half get to him,” Mosley said of Williamson. “He just stayed with it.”

Utah used a 9-0 run to take a 64-56 lead and put together another 9-0 run to open an 80-70 lead after the third quarter.

Queen’s layup completed a 12-0 run that gave New Orleans an 88-87 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

“I told coach that I had a smaller guy on me,” Queen said. “We just kept rolling with it.”

The score was tied at 93 before Queen scored five points and Fears hit a jumper for a four-point Pelicans lead with 1:46 left.

Markkanen made a 3-pointer and two free throws to edge the Jazz in front by one with 1:12 left and Queen turned the ball over with 57 seconds left. Markkanen made a 3-pointer, but Williamson made a basket and Murray made two free throws to tie the score with 6.4 seconds left.

Utah inbounded to George and cleared out for him. He dribbled across the perimeter to the left side of the circle and swished a jumper, but released the ball a fraction of a second after the buzzer.

The Pelicans led by as many as eight points early in through the first quarter before going cold and seeing the Jazz take a three-point lead. The lead changed hands four times in the period, which ended in the third tie, 24-all.

New Orleans began the second quarter with a 10-1 spurt as Utah didn’t make a field goal until nearly four minutes had expired. The Pelicans wound up outscoring the Jazz 18-13 in the second quarter — the points allowed by New Orleans were the fewest in a quarter this season and the points scored by New Orleans matched its fewest in a quarter.

That left the Pelicans with a 42-37 halftime lead, marking both the fewest points scored and the fewest points allowed by New Orleans in a half this season.