Bear hugs no match for Duke basketball product's beast mode

Thanks partly to the increasingly unguardable moves from the 6-foot-6, 285-pound power forward Zion Williamson, the New Orleans Pelicans (16-8) have won five straight for the first time since their No. 1 overall draft pick was still a Duke basketball commit in 2018.

Following a 104-98 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, the Pelicans now sit alone atop the Western Conference standings. Across the team's five-game rise to the top, Williamson has averaged 28.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.6 blocks while shooting 65.0 percent from the field.

Understandably, defenders have resorted to fouling to slow down the 22-year-old turbocharged tank in the paint. As ESPN's Andrew Lopez pointed out in a tweet, this is the first time Williamson has attempted 10 or more free throws in four straight NBA games.

Unfortunately for the opposition, though, Williamson has knocked down a career-high 72.0 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe this season.

Furthermore, as one can see in the hilarious highlight below from the final minute of the first quarter on Wednesday night, sometimes even a blatant bear hug isn't sufficient to prevent the nifty Zion Williamson from delivering an and-one bucket around the rim.

Pistons shooting guard Cory Joseph learned that lesson the hard way:

Hug Zion and he's still going to score on you pic.twitter.com/CHlyDn2KhA
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 8, 2022

Granted, Williamson went on to miss the free throw.

Three days earlier, in New Orleans' 121-106 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets, he was unable to shake off a considerably stronger bear hug from the 6-foot-11, 265-pound DeAndre Jordan but did drain one of his two foul shots resulting from the flagrant foul:

Only way people can stop Zion😤@PelicansNBA | #Pelicans |📺:BSNO pic.twitter.com/kTpjknVuIR
— Bally Sports New Orleans (@BallySportsNO) December 4, 2022

New Orleans Pelicans small forward Brandon Ingram, a 2015-16 Duke basketball sensation, has sat out the past five games while recovering from a toe injury.

Meanwhile, the Pistons' former Duke basketball star, starting power forward Marvin Bagley III, had a rough night against the Pelicans: zero points and two rebounds in his 20 minutes of action.

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