The New Orleans Pelicans took care of the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers 124-114 behind a forceful Zion Williamson on Wednesday night.

Williamson did it all for the Pelicans – scoring 33 points, while shooting 11-12 from the floor and an identical 11-12 from the free throw line.

After the game, the Pelicans' star had a message for the rest of the NBA, according to Pelicans Film Room:

Said Williamson on the Pelicans' ceiling, “I don't think we have a ceiling… We just need to become elite with the small nuances of the game.”

The Pelicans are getting back to full strength – guard CJ McCollum made his return Wednesday after missing 12 games with a collapsed right lung. He scored 20 points in the New Orleans win.

But it all starts with Williamson, and he was dominant again on Wednesday. A turnover turned deflection cost him a ticket to joining an exclusive club with Bailey Howell, Nikola Jokic, and Wilt Chamberlain. He could have been the latest player to have scored 33 points without recording a single missed field goal.

The final box score initially had Williamson as a perfect 11 of 11 from field, which would have made him the first player in franchise history to do that. But it was changed after the game by the NBA, which ruled that the Pelicans star was in the act of shooting when he lost a ball out of bounds while being guarded by Mo Bamba early in the fourth quarter.

The question with Williamson and the Pelicans has always been the big man's availability. After playing only 29 games over the last two seasons combined, Williamson has only missed four games in the 2023-24 season – all planned absences on the second game of a back-to-back.

Up next for the Pelicans – They host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.