Zion Williamson played just 14 minutes in Saturday’s blowout loss to the Clippers, and his time is expected to remain limited in Monday’s showdown with the Grizzlies, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Williamson was barely a factor yesterday, making 3-of-7 shots and committing three turnovers in the 23-point defeat. The Pelicans came to Orlando with hopes of reaching the playoffs, but have now dropped to 12th place with six games remaining.
The team was heavily criticized for not using Williamson down the stretch of its opening loss to the Jazz, but vice president David Griffin explained yesterday that the star rookie didn’t have much practice time to get back into game shape after the four-month hiatus. Williamson briefly left the Walt Disney World campus to tend to a family matter and was quarantined upon returning.
“It makes sense to me that there’s so much attention — obviously, he’s a phenom,” Griffin said. “The league office itself takes as much interest in this as the fans do, and I’m grateful, frankly, that the fans take as much interest as they do. What I’m frustrated by is that there has to be a conspiracy theory involved when literally there’s not one thing different that’s being done with him than was done for every player on this roster when we got here, and he missed 13 days of what those guys got. Now all of the sudden, because the stakes are raised and because, unfortunately, we were selected for seven national (television) games, we’re supposed to reinvent the wheel.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Trey Burke had a memorable debut with the Mavericks, scoring 31 points and hitting eight 3-pointers Friday night, but barely played in the fourth quarter as Dallas saw a big lead slip away, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “I think some of the guys on the side were wondering the same thing,” Burke said, referring to his teammates. “I just got here. I know Coach has a lineup at the end of the game that he trusts at this point.” Coach Rick Carlisle explained that Burke, who was signed as a replacement player for Willie Cauley-Stein and has only been in Orlando for about a week, was tired late in the game.
- The Mavericks feature an offense that statistically ranks as the NBA’s best ever, but they have trouble holding onto leads, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Luka Doncic believes that will eventually change with experience. “We’re a young team. We’ve got a lot to learn,” he said. “We’ll get better for sure. I know we’re going to get together when it matters most in the playoffs, so I’m not worried about that.”
- Ahead of their meeting tonight, McMahon examines the history of the feud between Rockets star James Harden and the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, which began with last year’s MVP race.
76ers need shooters
What is the reason they waive Trey Burke?
Both Pelicans and Grizzlies have not enough talents to make playoffs next year either
Once Zion is healthy the Pelicans should compete for a playoff spot in 2021. The problem is they are in the West with 10 other teams who would all be a lock to secure one of the spots in the east where teams like the Nets or Wizards are still contenders.
Burke showed he can score with Knicks. But we had three lottery picks at PG. So he couldn’t get PT. Sixers got him. But never really gave him a chance. His D needs work. I thought he’d be a good backup. Scoring PG off bench. He might finally be showing up. He’s still young.
Griffin puts the truth out there. Such a fuss over ZW’s TV time.
Rockets’ 3-man bench outscored the Bucks’ 7-man bench 23-18. Houston’s bench played 61 minutes compared to 92 minutes for Milwaukee. Not bad.
In their 120-116 win, the Rockets became just the 3rd team to overcome an 8-point deficit against the Bucks in the last 3 minutes of a game since they drafted Giannis 7 years ago. Houston also overcame an 8-point deficit against Dallas with 45 seconds left to force overtime and win 153-149. Clutch City Baby!
Make that a 7-point deficit against Dallas.