Zion Williamson shines in return from hip injury, hands Clippers fourth straight loss
Zion Williamson seems totally fine.
The New Orleans Pelicans star returned to their lineup on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles after dealing with a hip injury, and nearly finished with a triple-double in their 112-91 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Williamson finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the win at Crypto.com Arena as the Pelicans handed the Clippers their fourth straight loss.
“I’m fine,” Williamson said on Bally Sports. “I’m still a little sore, I can’t lie to you because that was a hard fall. But I’m fine.”
Williamson missed the Pelicans’ past two games due to a posterior hip contusion he sustained against the Utah Jazz. Williamson went up for a layup on a fast break, but was blocked by Jordan Clarkson and fell hard on the court on his back.
He started rolling around in pain before slowly getting up and walking off. The Pelicans then subbed him out, and he didn’t return.
Williamson averaged 22 points and 6.7 rebounds in his first three games this season, which was an impressive start after missing all of last year with a lingering foot injury.
The Pelicans were tied with the Clippers at halftime, but it was a huge 16-2 run that started near the end of the third quarter that pushed them to the 21-point win. Only CJ McCollum scored more than Williamson for New Orleans, putting up 22 points while shooting 4 of 8 from behind the line.
“I’m always getting the shot I want, respectfully,” Williamson said, via Bally Sports. “They’ve been playing me like that for a while. I’ve got great teammates, great shooters. The floor can be very spaced, so it allows me to create and get to the basket.”
The Clippers, on the other hand, had only three players score in double figures — led by Norman Powell’s 18 points off the bench. They were outrebounded by nine, shot just 11 of 39 from the 3-point line and gave up 54 points in the paint.
The Clippers will have a chance to right the ship on Monday night, when they’ll host the Houston Rockets. Based on their recent run, it’s going to take quite a bit of improvement.
“We are not a very good basketball team right now, and we got to change that,” Lue said, via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
