New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson says he's “feeling fine” ahead of Friday night's home game against the Denver Nuggets, according to a report from ESPN' Andrew Lopez.
Williamson had been recovering from a meniscus injury, but the former Duke standout was finally cleared to make his NBA debut on Wednesday night. He started off a bit slow, then came alive in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, the Pelicans fell to the Spurs, 121-117. Were it not for his precautionary benching in the final frame, though, the Pelicans may have came away with a victory.
Zion's minutes were restricted in his Pelicans debut, but he was allowed to play a bit more than expected. In his 18 minutes of action, Zion racked up 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field (4-of-4 from beyond the arc), seven rebounds and three assists.
Through the first three quarters, Zion had just five points on 2-of-3 shooting to go with four rebounds. In his outstanding fourth quarter, though, he racked up 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting (4-of-4 from downtown) and three rebounds. Remarkably, he became the first debuting player to go 4-for-4 from 3-point land in NBA history.
Zion went through a full practice on Thursday with no ill effects. As for his second NBA game, he says he's expecting a similar number of minutes.
Zion Williamson told us his knee “feels fine” but he isn’t sure how many bursts the team has planned for him. Said he expects it to be similar to the other night.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 24, 2020
Friday night's matchup between the Pelicans and Nuggets is set to tip inside the Smoothie King Center at 8:00 p.m. ET. Both teams have won three of their last five games.
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