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Zion Williamson wanted to close games. Finally, he got his chance and delivered.

Analysis by
Staff writer
August 4, 2020 at 6:39 a.m. EDT
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson comes down after a dunk over Anthony Tolliver of the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. (Ashley Landis/AP)

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Subtle isn’t a word that applies to Zion Williamson, who swings easily from the rim after alley-oops, bulldozes men 10 years his senior and transforms the New Orleans Pelicans from mediocre to marvelous when he has it going.

Before the NBA’s shutdown in March, Williamson had worked back from October knee surgery and boosted the Pelicans into the Western Conference playoff picture. While not a conventional scorer or playmaker, he punished defenders with forceful drives to the basket, crashed the offensive glass with his quick second jump and found a home in New Orleans’s up-tempo attack. The Pelicans, who lost 13 consecutive games at one point during Williamson’s three-month absence, were a changed franchise.

The hype built as Williamson topped 20 points in 13 consecutive games, with television executives dreaming about a showdown against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Of course, the novel coronavirus pandemic paused that talk, at least until the NBA announced its bubble plans and handed the Pelicans the easiest schedule of the 22 teams invited to Disney World. Instantly, Williamson’s magnetic presence made New Orleans a central presence for the networks, including a spot on the main stage of opening night.

If the table again seemed set for James vs. Williamson in the playoffs, it didn’t take long for the story to get more complicated. Williamson departed the bubble July 16 to attend to an undisclosed family emergency, a move that cost him nearly two weeks of practices and scrimmages. The Pelicans responded by initially listing him as a game-time decision and limiting his minutes upon his return.

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New Orleans lost a tight opener against the Utah Jazz on Thursday and then got throttled by the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. Williamson played just 29 minutes combined in the two games, spread out in short stints to open quarters before he sat down the stretch. Even though there were extenuating circumstances, this was unusually cautious treatment for a budding franchise player on a faltering playoff hopeful.

Suddenly, a once-promising situation had turned dire: A loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday would have dropped the Pelicans behind three other teams that are fighting for the West’s ninth seed and the right to force a play-in round under the league’s new postseason format. Even with easier opponents on deck over the next two weeks, New Orleans was forced to contemplate a world in which its playoff hopes dissolved in five days. Williamson, meanwhile, was shaping up to be labeled as a disappointment, especially with so many other star players shining brightly in the bubble.

But the 20-year-old forward, who was selected first in last year’s draft, restored order by posting 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes to deliver a 109-99 win over the Grizzlies. Down the stretch, he scored six straight points, barreling to the hoop to draw fouls and finish contested layups. Afterward, he looked and sounded relieved that his playing time and positive impact were getting back to normal.

“I’m not even going to lie to you: It just hits different in a bad way when I’m on the bench in the fourth quarter and there’s nothing I can do to help my team win,” Williamson said. “So, I felt alive. It was just great to be out there doing whatever I can to help my team win.”

The back-and-forth over his playing time has seemed to irk Williamson, who played just 15 minutes in the Pelicans’ opener. The franchise reasoned that it should take it slow because Williamson had yet to participate in a full-contact practice after returning to the bubble and undergoing a four-day quarantine.

After the loss to the Jazz, Williamson admitted he was trying to “get my flow to the game back” and worried about “[hurting] my team more than I helped.” Williamson, who also dealt with a minutes limit when he returned from knee surgery in January, told reporters last week that he was a “hooper” who felt prepared to play as much as the Pelicans needed.

“I wouldn’t really call it a fight [with the medical staff over minutes],” Williamson said Monday, downplaying any internal tension. “They’ve been doing this a long time. I’m trying to learn the game and learn the ropes. My mom taught me to take all the knowledge I can get.”

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While Williamson has maintained that he has not suffered any medical setbacks in recent weeks, he didn’t look like himself in the first two bubble games. He struggled at times to move laterally on defense, he was often late to close out on perimeter shooters, and he wasn’t as disruptive and energetic as he was in March. Williamson still finished efficiently around the basket, but he seemed to be playing in third gear at times and rarely showed off his full athletic ability.

To no one’s great surprise given his long layoff, he grew fatigued quickly and dealt with timing issues. Rebounds slipped out of his hands, and passes sailed out of bounds. Even during warmups, he went half-speed and shied away from indulging in his typical jaw-dropping dunks.

The Grizzlies dealt with something closer to the full Williamson experience, perhaps because he was told before the game that he was cleared for crunchtime. His defensive mobility and positioning remained concerning, but Williamson attacked the paint with greater determination on offense.

Though the highlight of the night was Williamson’s springy finish on a long-distance lob from Lonzo Ball, New Orleans’s saving grace was his assertiveness against Memphis’s tall and long interior duo of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas. The Pelicans, who ranked 29th in clutch net rating, have struggled to finish wins all season, but Williamson stepped forward when the Grizzlies cut the lead to four with under four minutes left.

With the game in the balance, Williamson bullied his way to the rim and no one could stop him. He bookended a pair of layups with two free throws, setting the stage for Brandon Ingram, who scored a game-high 24 points, to deliver a dagger of a three-pointer with less than two minutes to play.

“My competitive spirit was turned on,” Williamson said. “I was just glad the training staff and my team trusted me to be able to close the game out. I want to win every game. Every game for me is do or die. It bothers me when I can’t go in the game in the fourth quarter and help my team win.”

This was the player so many people had missed watching during the hiatus, the one whose presence no doubt helped convince the NBA to expand its restart field past the 16 playoff teams. The Pelicans (29-38), in turn, looked for the first time in the bubble like a team to be taken seriously. To force a play-in round, they must fight off the Grizzlies (32-36), Portland Trail Blazers (30-38), San Antonio Spurs (29-37), Sacramento Kings (28-38) and Phoenix Suns (28-39) to claim the West’s eighth or ninth seed.

“I thought he played really good down the stretch,” Coach Alvin Gentry said, calling Williamson a “huge, huge factor.” “We didn’t mince words at all. We knew this was a game we had to win to even stay afloat. [It’s great] when you have two really young players like [Williamson and Ingram] who stepped up. We’re trying to find ourselves. Hopefully things are starting to come together for us.”

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