New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for defensive meltdown vs. Mavericks

Pelicans vs. Mavs: Player Grades for the power forward and centers

The sad thing about last night was that Zion Williamson was nearly perfect and the Pelicans still lost.

The second-year star poured in a career-high 36 points on 14-of-15 shooting and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line.

My only question is how is Zion only getting 15 shots a game? This guy is nearly unstoppable on offense and should be getting 20 shots a game minimum. The Pels offense is best when it runs through him and they have to find a way to get him more shots.

Zion may already be the best power forward in the West and the Pels have to start feeding him even more.

Zion is obviously not the problem and is on his way to making the All-NBA team if he keeps this up.

A rare off night for Steven Adams.

Adams had a tough matchup against Kristaps Porzingis and for once was not up to the task. He only played 20 minutes and did grab four offensive rebounds, but he got torched in the pick-and-roll the entire time he was in the game.

Willy Hernangomez wasn’t a whole lot better defensively but he did score 10 points and add nine boards, which is about all you can ask for out of a backup center who wasn’t even expected to play this season.

Hernangomez has been one of the only pleasant surprises off the Pelicans’ bench this season.

It was an ugly night of defense for the New Orleans Pelicans that Zion’s brilliance could not offset.