-
Andrew LopezESPN
For the second time this season, New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson’s “debut” was marred by a minute restriction that kept him off the floor of a close game in the closing minutes.
Williamson debuted on January 22, and after his 17-point outburst nearly blew the roof off the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, the rookie headed to the bench for the final 5:23 and the Pelicans ended up losing to the San Antonio Spurs. .
Thursday night, when the NBA restarted its season with Williamson and the Pelicans in Game 1, he was again absent in the closing minutes in what turned into a 106-104 loss in New Orleans to the Utah Jazz at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Williamson was ready to play a predetermined number of minutes and had reached his quota when he left in the fourth quarter with 7:19 remaining when New Orleans held on to a four-point lead. He did not return even when the Jazz took the lead, or with 6.9 seconds remaining as the Pelicans had a chance to tie or win, two fewer.
“Of course we wish we could have played it down the stretch, but we used the minutes they gave us and that’s the way it is,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.
“We weren’t going to keep him there. The medicine people said we played against them in the minutes they allowed us to play, and we just kept going. I thought it looked good, I thought it had some good times.” And obviously we are a much better and different team when he is on the court. “
When asked if it was just a conditioning problem with Williamson, who missed the first 43 games of the season due to knee surgery, Gentry said, “They told me how many minutes I could play, and that’s what I did.” .
In total, Williamson played 15 minutes against the Jazz and scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He didn’t rebound for the first time in his young NBA career. He also committed three fouls, had two turnovers and was the worst of his career minus-16.
Williamson said that “it’s not just conditioning,” but he’s regaining his flow and feel for the game.
“This is the NBA, these are the best players in the world and you want to feel comfortable,” said Williamson. “I don’t want to hurt my team any more than I helped them in a way, if you understand me.”
Williamson left the Orlando bubble on July 16 to attend to a family medical emergency and returned on July 24. Once he returned to the NBA campus, he had to be quarantined in his hotel room for four days.
He left quarantine on Tuesday and joined the Pelicans to practice, but did no work 5-on-5 or 3-on-3. He practiced again with the team on Wednesday, although Gentry called it a light practice, and conducted the shooting on Thursday morning. It was a decision in game time for the first game against the Jazz.
Williamson said the team was not holding him and, although he wanted to be on the floor at the end of the fourth quarter, the team could have fully resisted him.
So how long will it take to get your flow back?
“I honestly don’t know how long it will take,” said Williamson. “I think maybe a couple of games.”
Williamson maintained that he had had no setback during conditioning, but mentioned that it felt like January again when it came to sitting down the stretch.
The loss left New Orleans 4.5 games behind the eighth seed in the Western Conference with seven games to play. New Orleans returns to action on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers before facing eighth place for the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
.
