New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for 120-116 win over the Toronto Raptors
Pelicans vs. Raptors: Player Grades for the power forwards
Power Forwards
A. . Williamson. New Orleans Pelicans. ZION WILLIAMSON
Zion Williamson didn’t have his biggest night scoring but I thought he played one of the smartest games of his career.
The Raptors were double and triple teaming Zion every time he touched the ball and instead of forcing it like he has been, Zion passed out of double teams, kept the ball moving and picked his spots to dominate.
After a quiet first half Zion came out aggressively in the second half and scored three quick buckets that changed the momentum of the game.
Zion dominated without scoring, as the Raptors had to change their entire game plan, which opened up shots for other people and left half the team in foul trouble.
Even when a team sells out to stop Zion, he ends up with 21 points and seven rebounds after fouling out the other team’s best player and keeping the Pels in the bonus all night.
There haven’t been many 20-year-olds in the history of the league who required the other team to completely change their approach. Zion is special.