Zion Williamson has transcendent run in otherwise tempered NBA debut

For much of Zion Williamson’s first night in the NBA, he was held in check, but in the fourth quarter, the Pelicans’ rookie ravished the Spurs like an All-Timer.

After a lot of hype and half a season of waiting, the New Orleans Pelicans got the chance to insert Zion Williamson into their starting lineup for the very first time.

While it was in a losing effort to the San Antonio Spurs, fans aren’t reflecting so much on the 117-121 final score, as all the chatter surrounding New Orleans is certainly revolving around a crazy night from their star rookie.

The fit with Zion wasn’t immediate and it didn’t help that Alvin Gentry could only use the rookie for four-minute bursts at the start of quarters.

As a result of the lack of familiarity, the New Orleans Pelicans probably had one of their worst looking offensive nights of the season, too often forcing passes and shots in spots that were just not that opportune.

In the first three quarters, Zion Williamson wasn’t tremendously impactful. He posted just 5 points and despite some pretty impressive passing didn’t have the same bag of tricks we saw in the preseason.

The rookie did display some crafty early passing with Brandon Ingram on the floor, however, as the two linked up to create Zion Williamson’s first assist in the NBA.

While some questioned the fit between the two prior to Williamson’s return, they actually seemed to provide each other with good spacing and looks throughout the night.

Throughout the night, however, the Pelicans struggled to control and take care of the basketball, as the team committed 14 turnovers. Zion was no exception, as the rookie struggled to control the rock, committing 5 turnovers against a pesky San Antonio defense.

Zion Williamson’s three-minute run in the fourth quarter had the Smoothie King Center in a complete roar

With the New Orleans Pelicans struggling all night and the San Antonio Spurs seemingly just having the team’s number, a sudden burst of energy overtook the game and made it look like a comeback could be in store.

After a quiet start to the night, the rookie went on an incredible run to help the Pelicans get back into the game late in the fourth quarter.

Held to just four-minute stretches in the first three quarters, Alvin Gentry twice sent Williamson’s substitutions back to the bench, as the rookie torched the Spurs throughout the fourth quarter.

"“I wanted him to be aggressive. You can see there’s a lot of things we can do with him. There’s a lot of potential there. There’s a really, really high ceiling that he could reach,” Gentry said following the Zion Williamson’s climactic debut. “I’m not the brightest coach in the world, but I wouldn’t have taken him out if I wasn’t told to.”"

Over the three-minutes stretch that produced the 17 point run in the fourth quarter, seemingly every time the rookie got close to the ball, something breathtaking occurred.

Apparently, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram haven’t been the only ones working with shooting coach Fred Vinson, who the team kindly refers to as “Coach Fred”.

During his epic run against San Antonio, Zion Williamson went 4-for-4 from three, shots that all looked just about perfect coming out of the rookie’s hands.

According to NBA Stats & Information, it was the first time in the history of the league where a player opened their three-point shooting career with four consecutive makes.

While in all likelihood he’ll come back to earth from deep in his next appearance, it was mystifying to see a 6’6″, 285 LBS force proceed to annihilate what’s a pretty good perimeter defending Spurs team. Never considered a shooter, Zion looked like a veteran sharpshooter on the perimeter during the run.

The final line on Zion Williamson’s first night in the NBA reads 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 8 minutes. However, it’s the final 3 minutes that fans won’t forget for a long time.

With his debut performance now in the books, the Pelicans can turn to getting Zion Williamson further integrated into the team’s rotations. Hopefully playing more minutes in the near future, the rookie had some wonderful