New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for huge win over 1st-place Jazz

Pelicans vs. Jazz: Grades for the power forward and centers

Zion Williamson continued to impress, breathing life into the New Orleans Pelicans with slick passing and a huge 3rd quarter.

The Pelicans were down at the half before Zion took over in the 3rd quarter with 15 points and two assists to give the Pelicans a lead that they were able to hold onto as the Jazz clawed their way back into the game.

Zion continues to get hacked mercilessly and continues to get NO CALLS. It was amazing how many times he finished through obvious contact only to not get a whistle. Zion is never going to complain about this, so I’ll do it for him. WHAT IS GOING ON?

Can a star player get a call? Zion only shot nine free throws on a night where he got fouled hard consistently. Watch the highlights and you’ll see at least five times where Zion was hacked and couldn’t get a call.

Zion is so strong that he often goes right through the contact, but still, this is getting ridiculous, especially when players are allowed to undercut Zion and not give him a place to land, something that gets called nearly every time if its done to a perimeter player.

Zion Williamson finished the night with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, including two on crucial 3-point shots down the stretch.  The big man has been impressive but what is even more impressive is how he keeps his cool about the fouls, as he is less upset by it than I am.

If you can hold Rudy Gobert to single digits in rebounds then you have done your job as a center. Adams finished the night with 11 rebounds of his own, most of which were on the defensive end, which is how the Pels were able to close out so many possessions defensively.

When your defense is not great, defensive rebounding becomes even more crucial, as you can’t afford to give up second shots, so Adams was big on that end.

I am also sick of the “he’s not a fit with Zion! He clogs up the lane!” nonsense. The Pels have the 4th -best offense in the NBA and Zion is dominating, so how exactly is the offense the problem? It isn’t, so please stop with these narratives that seem to come from people who don’t actually watch the games.

Willy Hernangomez is just solid, nothing more and nothing less. He has played himself into an important role in the rotation and doesn’t take anything off the table when he’s in there.

This is really what the New Orleans Pelicans were hoping Jaxson Hayes would do this season but he didn’t and Hernangomez has been a pleasant surprise as he continues to play tough defense, grab rebounds and score with efficiency.

The New Orleans Pelicans have done this before so I am going to save my excitement, as they tend to play well against the good teams, then revert against the bad ones. They have two winnable home games before the break and would love to win them both and have a little momentum for the 2nd half.