By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Picked first in the latest NBA draft, Zion Williamson missed the first chunk of the 2019-20 Regular Season. He first appearance was delayed three months by arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. On Wednesday evening finally made it to the court and looked fully recovered under the playing time restrictions set by the New Orleans Pelicans medical staff.
The former Blue Devil only needed 18 minutes for his first 22 NBA points. He poured 17 in the top end of the fourth quarter. However, the Pelicans failed to hold on for the win against the San Antonio Spurs. The Smoothie King Center crowd wanted Williamson back in the court for the final stretch, but medical instructions kept him on the bench.
“It was very hard” he mentioned afterwards commenting on being unable to help his team down the stretch, “I’m 19, honestly. In that moment, I’m not thinking about longevity. I’m thinking about winning that game, so it was very tough.”
“I think the big thing is that he was much more aggressive during that situation, and we had talked at halftime about,” said head coach Alvin Gentry, “There’s a lot of potential there. It was good to see him do that, but you know I think there’s a really really high ceiling that he can reach.”