New Orleans Pelicans: 4 overreactions to 113-99 win over the Raptors

New Orleans Pelicans: How Toronto slowed down Zion Williamson

Overreaction #4

Zion Williamson can be stopped!

Ok, he can’t be stopped, but he can be slowed.

Toronto obviously came into this game with a plan to stop Zion and make the rest of the Pels beat them. They did a good job on Zion but didn’t do much to stop anyone else, so Zion’s quiet night didn’t matter.

Toronto packed the lane and doubled Zion with a guard every time he touched the ball. Zion turned it over six times and just never found any kind of rhythm in the game.

They made an effort to limit the Pelicans’ points in the paint (which they did), daring the Pels to shoot 3-pointers. The difference is that the Pels moved the ball better in the second half, got better looks and knocked them down.

Zion ended the game with only 15 points but found other ways to contribute, adding 10 rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. He only took nine shots and made seven of them so it is not like the Raptors completely shut him down.

But they did slow him down and give the rest of the league a blueprint for how to stop Zion from getting easy buckets.

Zion will eventually get his and the Pels have to be happy with how the rest of the team stepped up, particularly Ingram whose max deal is already looking good.

It was a solid team win and a great way to start the holidays! Enjoy!