On Tuesday, the New Orleans Pelicans will tip off their regular season against the Toronto Raptors but unfortunately they’ll have do it without their leading scorer from the preseason Zion Williamson, who is expected to miss the next few weeks with with a knee injury.
Prior to getting hurt, Williamson averaged 23.3 points per game through four games in the preseason, which was good enough for him to secure a top-five spot among the preseason points per game leaders. Only Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden scored more than him and of that group, Williamson had the best field goal percentage (71.4 percent) by more than 10 percent.
Williamson wasn’t just good in the preseason, he was historically great and the hope is that he’ll be just as good when he returns. Until then, the Pelicans will have to manage without him, and after practice on Sunday, Lonzo Ball said that he and his teammates fully intend on taking care of business while he’s sidelined (via ESPN):
“We definitely wanted him, but there’s nothing we can do. We’ve just to hold the fort down until he gets back.
“He’s still on the team. It’s not like he’s missing the whole season. He’s going to be out a couple games, but he’ll be back strong.”
The Pelicans showed they have the talent to win games without Williamson against the New York Knicks on Friday. We’ll see if they can carry that momentum into Tuesday. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
