New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson will play Thursday night on the road against the Chicago Bulls after dealing with a toe injury, head coach Alvin Gentry said at shootaround.
The Pelicans listed Williamson as questionable to play with a right toe sprain but Gentry said the injury is a non-factor and Williamson won’t have a minutes restriction on Thursday.
The cause of the injury to Williamson is not known although his status change came after the No. 1 overall pick recorded 20 points, seven rebounds and five rebounds against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
Williamson struggled in that contest, converting on just 26.3% (5-of-19) of his shots from the field as the Bucks swarmed him all night on defense en route to a 120-108 win.
Gentry said Zion’s toe is fine. Said it’s really a non factor. So won’t be watching him or have any sort of restrictions on that end.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) February 6, 2020
Williamson missed the first 44 games of the season for the Pelicans after recovering from knee surgery. Since debuting Jan. 22, Williamson is averaging 19.6 points, eight rebounds and 2.1 assists in seven games.
Williamson was initially given a minutes restriction upon returning from surgery but has since averaged 30.1 minutes over his last five games for the Pelicans.
[lawrence-related id=11293,11271,11166]