Zion Williamson Scores 32 as Pelicans Trounce Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have continued a troubling slide in the NBA standings with their 129-110 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. After beginning the season 5-2, the team has since gone 1-11 with four consecutive losses by double-figures.
The Spurs did nothing that worked to slow down Zion Williamson, who finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds. He set the tone for the Pelicans' attack in establishing a 66-47 halftime lead. San Antonio was unable to recover from that point on.
''Zion was a monster from start to finish,'' Pelicans coach Willie Green said. ''Driving the ball, kicking it about to his teammates. Taking advantage of mismatches. Defensively, I thought he was really solid tonight. Just in the right spots, communicating, switching with contact, all the things we work on. Monster game by Z tonight.''
Williamson is still finding his footing on both ends after sitting out for the entire 2021-22 season. However, he may have found it against the Spurs as his scoring total set a new season-high.
''Well, obviously we didn't figure it out,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of defending Williamson. ''But there is a reason why he got picked where he got picked. He's pretty good.''
The Spurs did have a few key positives from their performance. Devin Vassell totaled 26 points and eight assists while Doug McDermott managed to chip in 21 points of his own. However, much of the team's top talents struggled to get it done offensively with Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl combining for nine points on 3-12 shooting from the floor.
The last few games have featured no shortage of struggles for Johnson in the scoring department. Over his last three games, he's averaging 9.3 points while shooting 11-44 (25.0 percent) overall and 2-19 (10.5 percent) on 3s. San Antonio is very limited unless he's at the top of his game.
The Spurs return to action on Friday when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers in what will the second of three matchups within the span of a week.
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