Zion Williamson is on the board. Now 2-2 as a player in the NBA, he checked off his first road win of his career in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
Equally important, he set a little history. He becomes the first no. 1 overall pick in league history to have at least 10 points and shoot better than 50 percent from the field in each of his first four games. I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming.
Zion Williamson finished with 14 points (7-13 FG) in the Pelicans win against the Cavaliers.
Zion is now the first 1st-round pick to have at least 10 points and shoot better than 50% in his first 4 career NBA games.
(h/t @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/eyVdOJCs0A
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) January 29, 2020
Williamson enjoyed the atmosphere in Cleveland. After the game in which he had 14 points – mostly from under or around the bucket – he talked about the energy of the Cleveland crowed.
“It was great,” Williamson said. “We got the win. The crowd’s energy was great.”
The highlight play of the game that has people talking involved Williamson, but he did not make the play. Indeed, it was Collin Sexton who denied Williamson of what looked like a dunk. Take a look.
Collin Sexton DENIES Zion's dunk attempt 😱 pic.twitter.com/bzXXx92I3w
— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) January 29, 2020
The rookie took it in stride.
“He got me that time.” Williamson said with a chuckle. “He got the best of me on that one. Hopefully, next time I get a different result.”
Finally, Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said via the Associated Press that he no longer wants to talk about Williamson’s minutes. Notably, Williamson played 30 minutes on Tuesday night; the most he has played in a game yet.
“He played 30 minutes,” Gentry said, “and most guys aren’t going to play more than 30 minutes anyway.”
Still, it would be nice if the guy could find his way into the 35-minute range. But this is a start.
