The New Orleans Pelicans appeared to start off their NBA In-Season Tournament matchup against the Sacramento Kings in an anxious manner; they went down by double-digits early on in the game, with the Kings' shooters running wild against the Pelicans. But the Pelicans' bench came in and straightened things out, and it may be thanks in large part to the composed message Zion Williamson gave his team early on.

After the Pelicans' 127-117 victory over the Kings, Williamson revealed the calmness the team had in the face of adversity, which was crucial in their early comeback efforts, thanks in large part to Jose Alvarado's hustle and De'Aaron Fox's costly turnovers.

“We just looked at each other like, ‘We're straight,'” Williamson said, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.

The Pelicans, indeed, were able to right the ship. And it wasn't like there was much reason for them to panic; when they went down by 14 points due to a Malik Monk three-pointer, there literally was 40 minutes and 55 seconds left of game time left, so they had plenty of time to figure things out. But they wasted no time in doing so.

At the very least, the Pelicans recognized that the Kings will be motivated to be at their best early on, as New Orleans has already beaten Sacramento twice heading into Monday night. And all the Pelicans needed to do to turn the game around was to trust one another, which head coach Willie Green was very proud of.

“The biggest thing I saw in that game was trust. Our guys just stuck together. They stuck together in the huddle, and they continued to make the right play over and over and over again,” Green said.

Now that they're getting back the services of their most crucial players, the Pelicans are becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the association. And now that they're trusting each other, they're able to win even with Zion Williamson not exactly at his best.

“I didn't play too well, but we were still up 13, 18, late in the game. This just shows how locked in everybody is. Coach always talks about staying ready. Our guys stayed ready,” Williamson said.

The Pelicans will look to keep it going as they take on the winner of the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers' Tuesday night matchup in the semifinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament.