The New Orleans Pelicans are hosting the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. Superstar Zion Williamson is dealing with an injury, however.
Williamson is battling a left finger contusion. The Pelicans want to proceed with caution, but they are also trying to clinch a top-six seed in the Western Conference. New Orleans currently trails the Dallas Mavericks by one game for the No. 5 seed in the West, and they are tied with the Phoenix Suns for the No. 6 seed.
In other words, every game will be extremely important moving forward. The Pelicans would love to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament and book their ticket to the playoffs as soon as the regular season ends.
It goes without saying, but Zion Williamson's status will be crucial to monitor moving forward. The Spurs are not the best team, but their Victor Wembanyama-led roster is more than capable of pulling off an upset.
Williamson's 2023-24 season
Williamson has dealt with injury trouble in previous seasons. In 2023-24, though, the Pelicans star has already appeared in 65 games played. It's been a much overall healthier campaign for Zion, and he has performed well.
Williamson is currently averaging 22.8 points per game on 58.1 percent field goal and 35.7 percent three-point shooting. He's also recording 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per outing.
New Orleans would probably like to see an increase in the rebounding department for Williamson. Still, it's been a productive season for a player who features an MVP-caliber ceiling.
The Pelicans have an all-around quality core of players. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram highlight New Orleans' key veterans. Ingram, though, is dealing with an injury of his own at the moment. He has already been ruled out for Friday's affair due to a knee injury.
Guard Jose Alvarado has also been ruled out for the game as he battles an oblique concern. So the Pelicans' injury concerns are far from ideal, but is Zion Williamson playing tonight vs. the Spurs?
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Zion Williamson's injury status vs. Spurs
Williamson was initially listed as questionable due to his aforementioned finger injury, per the NBA Injury Report. However, the Pelicans eventually ruled him out against the Spurs.
Zion's injury isn't what the Pelicans want to see. Still, as mentioned earlier, he has managed to stay healthy at a fairly consistent rate in 2023-24. Sure, he has still missed some time, but the fact of the matter is that Williamson has already set a new career-high in games played.
During his rookie season in 2019-20, Williamson appeared in 24 games. Of course, that season dealt with uncertainty as a result of the NBA bubble amid the pandemic.
In 2020-21, Williamson set a new career-high (at the time) in games played with 61. He showcased his potential and made the All-Star team. Zion ultimately averaged 27 points per game that season.
It was clear New Orleans had a superstar. But he also still dealt with injury trouble, and ultimately missed the entire 2021-22 campaign with a foot injury.
Zion Williamson returned for part of the 2022-23 season, playing in 29 games. He even made his second All-Star team in 2022-23, displaying his incredibly high-ceiling once again. Injuries unfortunately limited him, though.
Williamson did not make the All-Star team this year. Still, he has performed well and has managed to stay on the floor for the most part. If Williamson can avoid the injury bug next year as well, perhaps he will make a jump into the MVP conversation.
For now, the Pelicans are hoping he will be ready to go for the playoffs. At the moment, though, the answer to whether or not Zion Williamson is playing tonight vs. the Spurs is NO.
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