Vying to avoid falling into the play-in tournament might be the least of the New Orleans Pelicans' worries as the regular season comes to a close. Zion Williamson left his team's pivotal Thursday matchup with the Sacramento Kings in the first half after suffering an apparent injury to his left hand or wrist.
The play in question took place just before the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, as Williamson was being hounded by three Sacramento defenders and fell to the floor. He stayed in the game for another minute before exiting, heading back to the visitor's locker room at Golden 1 Center.
Zion Williamson went back to the Pelicans' locker room after appearing to injure his left wrist on this play:pic.twitter.com/REE4mTETJo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 12, 2024
It's unclear whether Williamson's latest malady is related to the finger injury that caused him to miss New Orleans' disappointing loss to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on April 5th. The two-time All-Star bruised his left middle finger while hitting his hand on the backboard after attempting a block against the Orlando Magic 48 hours earlier, forced to leave the game early.
“Earlier in the game, it got hit a few times,” Williamson said of his injured finger after the game. “When I went for the block on Suggs, I kind of went with force and banged it against the backboard really hard.”
Fortunately, Williamson headed back to the court with his teammates as the second half approached, starting the third quarter as normal.
Zion Williamson, Pelicans fighting to avoid play-in tournament
New Orleans entered Thursday's action at 47-32, just a half game ahead of the Phoenix Suns for sixth-place in the Western Conference. Willie Green's team controls its own destiny to stay above the play-in tournament fray, with three games left in the regular season compared to Phoenix's two. The Pelicans earned what could be their biggest win of 2023-24 last Sunday, taking down Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and company 112-105 in the desert.
A virtual shoo-in to finish in the West's top-six two weeks ago, New Orleans lost four games in a row from late March into the first week of April to be at risk falling to the play-in tournament. The Pelicans need two more wins and a Phoenix to assure them of finishing in the top-six.
Williamson was no worse for wear upon returning from his finger injury. The former No. 1 overall pick dropped 29 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and a career-best five blocks in New Orleans' crucial win over the Suns on Sunday, then had 22 points, five boards and seven dimes in a cakewalk victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
Needless to say, the Pelicans' dreams of a lengthy playoff run are likely to vanish if Williamson's minor left finger and hand injuries prevent him from playing near his peak once the regular season comes to a close. A league-wide laughingstock in December after his lethargic performance in the in-season tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers, Williamson has played some of the best all-around basketball of his career over the past couple months, averaging 24.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.1 blocks per game since February 1st.
Williamson and New Orleans are back it on Friday for the second half of a road back-to-back against the Golden State Warriors.
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