New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for another loss vs. Hawks

The New Orleans Pelicans lost their second game to the Atlanta Hawks within the span of a week despite Zion Williamson’s return.

The game was even headed into halftime, but a three-point deluge from the Hawks crushed the Pelicans’ hopes of a revenge win on the road. Atlanta scored all eleven of their attempted threes in the third quarter and missed just five overall shots in that period.

The tie headed into the half ballooned to a 17-point difference by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. At that point, the game became an extended blowout, much like on April 2nd when the Pels also lost resoundingly to the Hawks. Things ended 107-123 on this occasion, a slight improvement that does not really count for anything.

The Pelicans welcomed back Zion Williamson after a three-game absence but were still without Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Kira Lewis Jr., and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Stan Van Gundy added former all-star Isaiah Thomas to the rotation after he was signed on a 10-day contract.

What was supposed to be a relatively comfortable second half of the season for New Orleans is quickly turning into a continued injury nightmare. There is just a little over a month until the regular season ends.

Meanwhile, the Hawks continued their good run of form. They are now 13-4 since the start of March and haven’t lost at all in April. Unlike the game a few days ago, the Hawks were able to count on Trae Young and Danilo Gallinari, both of whom lit the Pels up. Young finished with 30 points and New Orleans was completely unable to contain his long-range shooting.

Here are the player grades for the Pels’ loss against the Hawks, starting with my personal MVP:

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Atlanta Hawks: Grading the best player

Zion Williamson picked up where he left off before his thumb injury.

Williamson was typically dominant against the Hawks, finishing with 34 points on 67 percent shooting from the field. He got to the line at will, missing just one of his ten free throws, and also made a three with ease.

It was the type of all-star performance that we’ve grown accustomed to from Williamson on the offensive end of the floor. He is quickly making the obscene look like the norm, but his utter superiority should not be dismissed.

Williamson still has not even played the equivalent of an entire NBA season but is putting up historic numbers. With his performance against Atlanta, he extended his streak of games with 20+ points while shooting 50 percent from the field to 25 consecutive games. Williamson is now tied with Shaquille O’Neal in that statistic and has a solid chance of beating him.

On defense, Williamson was a mixed bag. There were a few times early on where the Hawks tried everything to switch him onto Trae Young, but he held his own relatively well. However, there were also occasions where he did not compete as well as one would hope or his closeouts lacked energy.