Even by Zion Williamson’s standards, Tuesday night was a dominant display. In what is becoming commonplace, the Grizzlies had no answers for Williamson as he scored 31 points on 13-of-16 shooting in 28 minutes, leading the Pelicans to their best offensive showing of the season in a 144-113 win.
But it was the way Williamson scored on Tuesday that made it a particularly impressive performance. He scored on post moves, at the rim, behind the arc, off the dribble. No matter what the Grizzlies threw at Williamson and the Pelicans, he had a counter.
And in the few instances Williamson didn’t score, he set up teammates to the tune of six assists, just the fourth time this season he’s handed out at least that many assists.
“Zion’s a once-in-a-lifetime player,” Lonzo Ball said. “He can do a lot of different things on the court. He definitely can score in the post but he’s also very fluent with the ball up top and we’re using that to our advantage this year.”
The Pelicans have increasingly used Williamson as an initiator at the top of the key, both for himself and others. Over the last eight games, Williamson is averaging 5.1 assists with two of his four games with at least six assists coming in that span.
On Tuesday, nine of Williamson’s 12 2-point field goals were unassisted as the Pelicans implored him to take matters into his own hands.
“He’s really a point forward,” Ball said. “Guys that are somewhat strong enough to guard him, it’s going to be difficult for them to stay in front of him on the outside. And then when he gets the ball, he looks to attack. He has enough handle to get to where he needs to go and then, obviously, he has enough force to get to the rim. It’s working out good for him. It’s working out good for us and we like when he has the ball.”
The Pelicans also took advantage of the attention paid to Williamson as Memphis’ defense collapsed on him. Three of Williamson’s six assists ended in 3-pointers for New Orleans.
“You have to come help,” Ball said of defenses on Williamson.”And that’ll open up shots for the rest of the guys on the team and (Zion) can make the extra pass as well as finish. It’s a tough guard and it’s a great play for us.”
Behind Williamson, the Pelicans have surged offensively, even if their defense has suffered. Over the last eight games, the Pelicans are first in offensive rating in the league.
The difference on Tuesday was that the Pelicans also excelled defensively. In that same eight-game span, the Pelicans rank 26th in defensive rating.
“We’re not too worried about offense,” Ball said. “We’ve been looking at the numbers in our last 10-plus games and they’ve been great offensively. The nights that we lose is when we don’t play defense. I think our offense, as long as guys get to their spots, sprint the floor and play together, that end is fine. All the emphasis comes from the other side of the ball which is the defense.
“I think tonight, our rotations were there,” he added. “We were helping one another on that side of the ball and even when guys got beat, we knew somebody was there in the gaps and then we closed out pretty well tonight and that led to a better defensive night for us.”
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