Zion Williamson electrified the Smoothie King Center last night with 22 points in his debut, a 121-117 loss to the Spurs.
Williamson had a rough start to the game before blasting the Spurs with a 17 point 4th quarter that sent the crowd, and sidelines into a frenzy. Guard Jrue Holiday says it was an incredible show, but this is what you expect from an elite prospect like Zion.
“We’ve seen him do this since high school, this is what he does. So as exciting as it was, was it really that much of a surprise?” said Holiday.
Williamson had 22 points and 7 rebounds in just 19 minutes. He did also have five turnovers.
The 12 of Williamsons 22 points came from deep, surprising considering the rookie sensation didn’t shoot well, or often at Duke. He says he wasn’t going to waste his injury downtime.
“When you are not able to move around and do athletic movements for a while and you are only able to shoot spot-up jumpers, I guess that was the result of that,” said Williamson.
Number one missed most of the season due to a meniscus tear suffered in the preseason.
Zion’s sensational three minute, 17 point 4th quarter outburst put the Pelicans up by three before he was yanked by the medical team as a precaution. He wasn’t happy about it.
“It’s very hard, I’m 19, and honestly at that moment I’m not thinking about longevity, I’m thinking about winning that game, so it was very tough,” said Williamson.
ESPN caught Zion, as he was being taken out with just five minutes left, saying “Coach, I can win the game for this team. Leave me in”, but the med staff wasn’t having it.
