New Orleans Pelicans: Largest Win Against a Rival in Orlando
By Tim Burke
New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant, Game 1
What was the highlight of the game? Moment?
An attempted alley-oop between Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson was the highlight of this game.
About four minutes into the second quarter, Josh Hart brought the ball up the floor and got the team into their set. Zion set a screen on Holiday’s defender near the Grizzlies bench as Jrue cut towards the scorer’s table and Hart.
Once Jrue caught the ball just inside the three-point line things started to get fun. Three Grizzly defenders (Ja Morant, Jae Crowder, and Dillon Brooks) crashed down towards Jrue as he drove towards the left elbow. While there were three defenders within arms reach of Jrue, none of them were able to slow him down or keep an eye on Zion, who started curling down the baseline towards the basket.
The pass from Jrue was not on target, instead, the ball arrived behind Zion and past the backboard. While in midair Zion caught the ball with his left hand, switched it to his right hand, and then banked it off the backboard for the score. It was worth the same two points as a wide-open layup under the basket, but this play demonstrated the body control Zion has.
Moment of the Game
The moment of the game also occurred early on and didn’t feature anything awe-inspiring until the very end. Here’s what happened just a minute and 45 seconds into the game the Zion brought the ball up to begin a possession.
Lonzo caught the ball at the top of the arc and drove towards the basket. He attempts a floater that kissed the left side of the rim and bounced towards three Memphis players and Derrick Favors. The ball somehow got past all four of those players, hit the floor, and bounced towards the baseline. Favors jumped, caught the ball, and threw it to Ingram at the top of the arc from the baseline all in one motion. Offensive rebound number one, nine seconds of possession.
Ingram held the ball for a second waiting for the Pelicans to reset then passed it to Holiday for a three. The shot was too strong and the ball hit off the back of the rim and bounced almost straight up. The same scenario occurred on this rebound as the first, Favors, and three Grizzlies fighting for the rebound with Lonzo nearby. After a few tips to keep the ball loose, Favors secured the ball and passed it to almost the same spot as last time. Offensive rebound number two, 16 seconds of possession.
Then came offensive rebound number three, 27 seconds of possession, then offensive rebound number four, 33 seconds of possession.
Jrue began dribbling to the top of the arc, cut in like he was going to drive for a floater, and he jumped to give himself more space as he found Lonzo. After holding the ball for a bit, Lonzo again passed it to Ingram who was close to the same spot as his last shot. Ingram didn’t shoot it this time but instead dumped it off to Zion who had established a post position on Valanciunas in the paint.
Without hesitating after catching the ball, Zion drove to his left and beat Valanciunas. It seemed like Zion was going too fast to get a shot up and would instead drive through the paint and move the ball. Luckily that’s not what happened before he got outside the restricted area he planted his left foot and jumped. While he took off with his back to the basket he had started to spin with that plant foot. A 180 degree spin in midair ended with a slam.
This possession lasted almost 45 seconds and featured four offensive rebounds for the Pels, and saw every player get at least one touch.