Eight days ago when Zion Williamson made his long-awaited New Orleans Pelicans debut during his team’s 117-121 defeat against San Antonio Spurs, his name was tossed up as soon as the game was over at Smoothie King Center. After all, he put on some show in his brief 18 minutes stay on the court. But the suggestion was soon brushed aside by NBA pundits and alike on the ground that too many games have gone for Williamson to be considered for the coveted “NBA rookie of the year.”
On Saturday, the Pelicans played host to Memphis Grizzlies, and with that matchup came Zion Williamson and Grizzlies’ Ja Morant against each other. Morant is somebody who has exceeded expectations in his rookie year and is the front runner for the award. Or is he now?
For Zion, outperformed, and outmuscled Morant and his teammates in this game as the Pelicans came out on top to win the game 139-11 at Smoothie King Center. It was Pelican’s third straight win of the season, and they are only one game away from matching their best run this season. With Zion in red-hot form and the mood inside the Smoothie King Center turning for the better, Pelicans can do anything now.
”It was one of those things where I just tried to make something of it, hope somebody gets the rebound,” Williamson was quoted as saying after the game.
It was Williamson’s only 5th game of the current season the arthroscopic surgery on his right knee kept him out of action since the start of the 2019-20 season. He scored 24 points in 29 minutes, and also had 3 assists, and several offensive rebounds. Ja Morant could manage only 16 points, but Grizzlies’ bench outscored Pelicans’ by 46-41.
Brandon Ingram, who leads the Pelicans with 24.9 points per game, scored 20 points and had seven assists, while Derrick Favors collected a game-high 10 rebounds.
New Orleans Pelicans will face Houston Rockets at Toyota Centre on Sunday, while the Grizzlies will face Detroit Pistons at home on Tuesday morning (IST).
