Zion Williamson Vs. Luka and The Mavs - And Why It May Not Happen

DALLAS - New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is a fan of the skills of Dallas Mavericks second-year guard Luka Doncic, just as the rest of the NBA planet is. And we'll bet Luka is a fan of Zion's, too - yes, just as the rest of the NBA planet also is.

Wednesday here in Dallas at the AAC comes the scheduled and much-anticipated debut of Zion and the first matchup between this next-gen pair of stars ... But it might not happen.

As the trusty Brad Townsend points out, Williamson and the Pels are playing tonight vs. Minnesota. Then comes the second night of a back-to-back at Dallas, a tipoff shifted to 8:30 p.m. to accommodate a national TV audience.

Zion Williamson is not on Pels' 12:30 p.m. injury report, which seemingly means he will play against Minnesota tonight, which seemingly lessens the odds that he will play in Dallas tomorrow. He hasn't played a back-to-back since his return to the court.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 3, 2020

But Williamson, coming off his knee injury, is subject to "load management'' decisions by the Pels. And Townsend notes that Zion isn't on the Tuesday injury list for Pels vs. T'Wolves, meaning he's playing Tuesday.

Which can mean he's not playing Wednesday.

Williamson is of course capable of putting on quite a show, as in his 15 games he's at 24 points seven rebounds and two assists per for a Pels team And Zion is the first to acknowledge that Luka can do the same, as he says the Mavs’ guard is a "walking triple-double'' capable of doing whatever it takes to win a game.

Pelicans’ Zion Williamson on Mavericks’ Luka Doncic: “With Luka, he’s just a walking triple double. He goes out there and plays to his strengths and does whatever he can to help his team win.” pic.twitter.com/y9aUCfbbTM
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 14, 2020

Dallas has won quite a few games this year, with a 37-25 record and a No. 7 slot in the NBA West standings. He's done it with big numbers but also with an electric and crowd-pleasing style, too. Zion is a different sort of player, of course, but electric and crowd-pleasing? Williamson is all of that ... though the crowd at the AAC won't be too pleased if he's scratched.

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