In the Pelicans’ season opener win against the Brooklyn Nets, Zion Williamson had a solid 25-point, 9-rebound performance.
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The New Orleans Pelicans had a dream start to their 2022-2023 campaign. The Brooklyn Nets’ All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons at the Barclays Center, were washed by Willie Green’s boys in a huge 130-108 win.
The All-Star trio of NOLA – Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum – played for the first time together. They were on the floor for over 20 minutes and looked perfectly in sync. CJ and BI put up a total of 49 points while recording 17 field goals combined.
Suiting up for a regular season game after 533 days, Zanos was unstoppable yesterday night. The 22-year-old managed to record 25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals while shooting 50% from the field. He also finished the game with an efficient plus-minus of +13.
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“Zion Williamson didn’t miss a beat”: Coach Willie Green
Playing without any minutes restriction, the former Duke Blue Devil had a total of 30:02 minutes of game time. While dominating the paint, Williamson looked at his brutish best. And more importantly, the All-Star looked happier than ever before.
Talking about his impressive outing, the 6-foot-6 power forward seemed pretty relieved.
“Simply playing the game I love that I didn’t get to play for a long time just was a breath of fresh air,” Williamson said.
Coaching the New Orleans-based organization for his second year, Willie Green was pretty impressed with what the show the youngster had put on.
“It’s like he didn’t miss a beat,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said. “You just throw the ball to him and watch what he does.”
“Spoke to my mom in the hallway. Hardest critic I got”: Zion
On several instances throughout his career, Williamson has regarded his mother as the “hardest coach” he ever had.
After the Pelicans-Nets clash, the 284-pound beast graded his own game as a “decent starter performance”. He later stated how he got feedback from his mother, Sharonda Sampson. Zion has often cited her as his “biggest critic”.
“It was a decent starter performance,” Williamson said. “I already spoke to my mom in the hallway. Hardest critic I got. It’s a lot of room for improvement. I am still learning (from) my teammates. Now we get real in-game reps. I’m just excited to grow.”
Williamson will hope to follow up his 25-point outing with yet another great display when the Pelicans take on the Hornets in their next clash. CJ McCollum and co. could go on to start the season with a 2-0 record for the first time in 4 years.
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