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Tuesday's 40-point outing was Zion Williamson's best game of the season. Despite his performance, the New Orleans Pelicans lost to the LA Lakers in the first game of the NBA play-in tournament. In addition, Williamson wound up leaving the game in the final few minutes with left leg soreness. Reports emerged Wednesday indicating Williamson would miss Friday's elimination game.
The update was shared by longtime NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, which cited a hamstring injury as the cause of Williamson's problems. Wojnarowski also reported that Williamson would be re-evaluated in the coming weeks.
With the New Orleans Pelicans set to play the Sacramento Kings on Friday, should the team wind up advancing to the next round, they could be in trouble. Game 1 against the OKC Thunder is set to take place on Sunday, with Game 2 set for April 24.
Those two games, as well as Friday's play-in game, will all occur within the next seven days. This means if Williamson is set to be re-evaluated in the coming weeks, he could miss quite a bit, or the entirety, of the first round.
"ESPN Sources: Pelicans F Zion Williamson’s (left hamstring) is out for Friday’s Play-In Tournament elimination game vs. Sacramento and will be evaluated again in coming weeks. Huge blow for New Orleans."
What happened to Zion Williamson? Looking at the origin of his left hamstring injury
When the LA Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans played Tuesday, the game saw Zion Williamson put on his best performance of the season. Although the Pelicans lost the game, Williamson scored 40 points along with 11 rebounds.
Late in the game, with three minutes remaining in the fourth, Williamson forced a switch on to Anthony Davis at the top of the key. After crossing up the Lakers forward and driving to the paint, he nailed a floater that brought Smoothie King Arena to its feet.
After the play, he notably appeared to grimace in pain, before then displaying signs of a minor limp on his way back to the bench. During the timeout that followed, a visibly frustrated Williams was seen heading back to the locker room.
The entire situation can be seen unfolding in the video below.
Looking at Zion Williamson's stats vs. Sacramento Kings
Zion Williamson has played eight games against the Sacramento Kings during his career, with four of those games taking place this season. The Pelicans also played the Kings once this season without Williamson on Jan. 7.
Over his eight career games against the Kings, he averaged 24.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists. This season, in his four games against the Kings, he averaged 23.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 5.7 apg. The Pelicans went 3-1 in those games.
Guess the Lakers players!
