Zion Williamson returned to the sphere Tuesday evening after a 27-game absence as a consequence of a hamstring pressure.
It was a welcome sight for New Orleans Pelicans followers, and there have been some highlight-reel dunks. But it surely did not end in a victory for the Pelicans.
There have been no indicators of rust for Williamson, who placed on a present in entrance of a house crowd in New Orleans. However Anthony Edwards propels Timberwolves to 104-97 victory. The loss dropped the Pelicans to 7-30 in an injury-plagued season.
The excellent news for New Orleans is that Williamson appeared totally recovered with 22 factors, six rebounds, 4 assists and three steals. He additionally led the sport with three dunks, one among which would not have been misplaced in a dunk contest.
Zion places on a present
Williamson bought on the board early with a putback of a missed layup by Herbert Jones. His second bucket was for highlights. Williamson ran down the court docket on a break and caught a protracted lob from CJ McCollum down the baseline for a two-handed alley-oop slam to chop the Pelicans’ early deficit to 16-8.
However he saved his greatest for the second half. The Pelicans tied the rating at 54 at halftime, then scored the primary three baskets of the third quarter. Two of them had been Williamson dunks, the primary of which Williamson discovered himself on their own in transition after choosing Edwards’ pocket.
He took benefit of the second with a 360 tomahawk slam.
The Pelicans prolonged their result in 64-56 halfway by the quarter. However the Timberwolves took management from there and led the complete fourth quarter thanks partially to an enormous evening from Edwards.
Edwards led the Timberwolves with 32 factors, 9 rebounds and three assists and was sensible from lengthy vary on a 7-of-11 effort from past the 3-point arc.
Can Zion keep wholesome this time round?
Williamson has now performed in seven of the Pelicans’ 37 video games in one other injury-plagued season. Amid a collection of accidents to a number of key gamers, New Orleans is off to the worst begin within the Western Convention. Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray, McCollum, Jones and Trey Murphy III have all missed vital time as a consequence of accidents this season alongside Williamson.
But it surely’s Williamson’s accidents which have grow to be a well-recognized chorus for the reason that Pelicans chosen him first general within the 2019 NBA Draft. Williamson solely performed in 191 of the Pelicans’ 427 common season video games as a consequence of numerous accidents since becoming a member of the group.
He has performed in 29 video games or fewer in three totally different seasons, together with lacking the complete 2021-22 marketing campaign with a foot harm. Williamson has performed in 70 video games throughout the 2023-24 season, essentially the most of his NBA profession.
He returns to a group nonetheless with out former All-Star Ingram, who has been sidelined with an ankle harm for the previous 12 video games. Murray, McCollum, Jones and Murphy all returned from prolonged absences, though Murphy missed Tuesday’s recreation with a sprained ankle.
Regardless of Williamson’s harm historical past, the Pelicans signed him to a five-year, $197 million max extension in 2022 that runs by the 2027-28 season. The ultimate three seasons of the deal wouldn’t be assured as a consequence of a recreation performed clause that has been triggered whereas he has solely performed 29 video games within the 2022-23 season.
When wholesome, Williamson is an imposing inside drive on the court docket. Throughout his profession, he averaged 24.6 factors, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists whereas taking pictures 58.7% from the sphere.
