New Orleans Pelicans: 3 players that can step up after Zion Williamson’s injury

New Orleans Pelicans: Can the rookie fill in?

Kira Lewis Jr. bounced back against the Philadelphia 76ers with a 13-point night after a rough few games.

The New Orleans Pelicans’ rookie is largely enjoying a fruitful first season in the association. He cracked the rotation after not really featuring for the first few weeks of the season and then quickly became one of Stan Van Gundy’s main bench pieces.

You can always count on Lewis to increase New Orleans’ tempo, get downhill in a blur, and provide a jolt to a sometimes dull offense. Alongside Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Lewis was one of the Pelicans’ two main spark plugs to start 2021.

Then came the rookie wall. This refers to the time of the season when first-year players sort of stagnate or Peter out until the end of their rookie year. A lot of the time, this is not worrying. Simply put, rookies are not accustomed to playing so many games at such a high level.

Personally, I believe that Lewis hit that wall a few games ago. At Alabama, Lewis never played more than 34 games in a season. Over his two years with the Crimson Tide, he featured in a total of 65 games. Some simple math should lead you to the conclusion that a typical NBA season already has more games than Lewis’ two college basketball seasons put together.

Until his 34th game with New Orleans, Lewis was averaging seven points and two assists a night while shooting 36 percent from three. Since then, he has averaged five points and two assists per game on 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc. It’s a slight decline, but a noticeable one.

The next game of Lewis’ rookie season will be his 50th and I hope that he can prove me wrong by coming up with some big performances over the remaining games.