For two years in a row, Zion Williamson has shown that he is the hottest new commodity in the NBA. The 20-year-old portrayed that once again in the victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. His exemplary performance made the difference between the two sides.
It was a relatively easy game for the Pelicans as the Cavs were missing quite a lot of their starting players. In the absence of Lonzo Ball, coach Stan Van Gundy decided to use Brandon Ingram in a more versatile role, making him play between the positions of point guard and small forward.
In the post-game press conference, Zion was quite happy with his performance. He said, “I think ultimately our intensity on defense changed the game for us. We were real sloppy at the beginning. I would even go on to say that we were sloppy up until the third quarter. However, it ultimately changed the momentum for us.”
Zion Williamson guides his team towards the victory
It was an all-round performance from the New Orleans outfit on both ends of the court. Zion was the pick of the players as he finished with 38 points to his name. In fact, he was only one shy of his career-high tally of 39. He also racked up nine rebounds and four assists through the match.
CLEVELAND, OH – APRIL 11: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans dunks the ball
Apart from him, Brandon Ingram also contributed heavily to a relatively new role for him. He scored 27 points and had eight assists and four rebounds to his name.
After the game, coach Stan Van Gundy was elated with Zion’s performance. He said, “You get so spoiled with Zion because he sets such a high standard that I didn’t think this was one of his better games. Then you look at the stat sheet and, whew, he had 38-9-4 even though I know he was tired out there.”
The New Orleans Pelicans are 11th in the Western Conference. At the moment, they are not in contention for the playoff spots. However, they are stitching together a good run of form that can see them causing upsets in crunch situations.
