Zion Williamson overwhelming against Lakers even in Pelicans loss

Playing a tough Tuesday night matchup against the Lakers, Zion Williamson looked like one of the game’s finest players as the Pelicans fell just short.

Making his career first appearance in the Staples Center on Tuesday night, Zion Williamson led the New Orleans Pelicans into La-La Land for a thrilling matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Adding to the intrigue on the night was the increasing potential for a first-round matching for the two, as the Pelicans continue to make a surge for the eighth-seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Fans were certainly tuned in to see if Zion could still play an impact role against the team with the fourth-best defensive rating (106) and second-best net rating (+7.1) in the NBA.

Though the Pelicans eventually lost 118-109 to the Lakers, it was a gallant, road-warrior effort from New Orleans, who gave everything they had for four quarters.

While the Lakers did a nice job slowing down the Pelicans as a whole during certain stretches of the game, they still had a really hard time trying to throw water on the scorching performance of Zion Williamson.

Posting 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 8-of-18 from the floor against the staunch defenders from the Lakers.

During his impressive showing, Zion was certain to catch his fair share of highlight-reel moments; even in a big game, Williamson proved the ultimate showman.

Going showtime in Los Angeles, the former Laker and current floor-running partner of Williamson in Lonzo Ball made some incredible connections via the ariel route.

However, there was some role-reversal between the two in this one, as Zion fed Lonzo a triple to open the second half of play, sparking a turn in momentum for the Pelicans.

Continuing to develop as a passer, Williamson finished with 3 assists on the night but is clearly starting to feel his teammates in the passing lanes, though he’s averaging just 2.6 assists per game.

Though he committed 3 turnovers in 33 minutes, he did a lot of nice things with the ball in his hand and showed he can play a big role in facilitation when the Pelicans need him to provide that contributing skill.

It was also relieving to see Zion Williamson knock down so many of his free throws last night. A 61.9% shooter from the stripe this season, he knocked down 13-of-19 (68.4%) shots from the free-throw line against the Lakers, as the rookie seemed to be a magnet for fouls.

Free-throws are nice, but the saying is “defense wins championships.”

That’s what was most impressive from Zion on Tuesday night was his defensive performance, mostly tasked with bodying up Anthony Davis.

Holding Davis to 21 points on 6-of-21 shooting, mostly causing the 7-footer to even step foot in the painted area on offense.

Up until this point, we really haven’t seen Zion show the fortitude to cover a league-best offensive player, as the rookie has still had some out-of-rotation moments through the first 13 games of his young NBA career. Seemingly, he’s continuing to become a great defender with more reps.

While Williamson did a highly-respectable job battling Davis, there was one Laker last night that simply could not be contained.

All night long, the New Orleans Pelicans battled, but couldn’t contain LeBron James.

Playing 34 minutes mostly covered by Jrue Holiday (who still battled like crazy to slow down LeBron), James posted 40 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 5-of-11 from three-point range.

Though he committed 7 turnovers (thanks again, Jrue), he finished +11 and the Pelicans had their best runs of the game without James on the floor.

After the game, James heaped praise onto his rookie opponent, who did a heck of a job helping his team stay in the game, something that LeBron clearly respected in his interview with TNT.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1232545224838090752

Receiving praise from one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Zion should feel very good not only about his performance tonight but about his reputation with the league’s historic figures.

So far, there seems to be a direct correlation between Zion Williamson getting more in-game reps and the number of people willing to heap praise on the rookie.

However, knowing the motor that turns inside of Zion, he’ll appreciate the compliments from James, but still probably feels a lot more frustrated about losing the game.

Certainly, the Pelicans will feel frustrated by their loss, considering how hard these young players performed on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

Fortunately for the Pelicans, they’ll get two full days of rest before their matchup on Friday with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which should be a good tune-up opportunity before the team hosts the Lakers again on Sunday night.

Zion Williamson thrilled on Tuesday against the Lakers in a loss, though it was only the thirteenth game of his NBA career. Hopefully, for both himself and New Orleans, battles like this could become the new norm for a highly-competitive bunch of young players.