The New Orleans Pelicans are mustering up all the momentum they need before the postseason starts. They just got their 39th win of the season over the Atlanta Hawks. This win makes them two games ahead of the Phoenix Suns in the battle for the Western Conference's fifth seed. A key player who has had a resurgence in the past few games has been Zion Williamson. He along with the core composed of Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and Trey Murphy III have been as of late.
But, this is not the peak form of Zion Williamson at all. Injuries have set him back and it can be quite hard to revert back to his style of play when he was with the Duke Blue Devils. Nonetheless, he is still making a conscious effort to get his groove back to lead the Pelicans into glory when the playoffs commence, via the Pelicans Film Room.
“I am getting there. Just stacking my days of extra conditioning over time. I am starting to see some of those results. I just gotta maintain and keep going,” Williamson declared.
He had an all-around performance against the Hawks. Williamson put up 27 points on 36 minutes of playing time. When he was not torching the opponents' defense with buckets, he displayed his playmaking chops. Seven assists were the result of this dime-dropping masterclass. Then, six rebounds rounded out his all-around performance for the night.
If Williamson is truly hitting his peak soon, the Pelicans might be a scary team to face in the playoffs.
Pelicans crush the Hawks
With Trae Young out, the Hawks are doing their best to get some wins and stay afloat in the playoff picture. Dejounte Murray dropped a double-double with 11 assists and 23 points. The other starters also combined for 60 points. But, that is where the fun stopped for the Eastern Conference team that is struggling to survive. The Pelicans defense forced them to commit 12 turnovers with eight of those coming off of steals. When they drove to the basket, shots were rejected and blocked seven times. Even when they got a shot up, they were well contested which resulted in a poor 41.8% field goal shooting percentage.
Trey Murphy III then started to get hot off the bench by putting up 28 points. Brandon Ingram then dropped 10 assists despite just having seven points. All of this made for an impressive win with a 116 to 103 scoreline.
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