Zion has a dominant playoff debut.

The New Orleans Pelicans fell 106-110 to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the 2023-2024 NBA Play-In Tournament on Sunday (Feb. 17) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

The loss sends New Orleans to face the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at home for the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.

Early in the game, New Orleans jumped out to a comfortable lead. The Lakers were unable to control Williamson’s penetration to the basket, and Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado, 먹튀검증 and others hit three-pointers to give New Orleans the momentum.

But in the second quarter, when Williamson went to the bench, the Lakers took control. The Lakers’ big three-D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James-started to pick up the pace and quickly turned the game around. New Orleans’ offense had no answer for Williamson. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram struggled throughout the game.

The third and fourth quarters were more of the same. The Lakers would take an early lead, and New Orleans would chip away at it behind Williamson’s play. New Orleans was able to tie the game at 93-93 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Lakers’ focus came back to haunt them.

Despite the loss, Williamson’s performance was nothing short of spectacular. Williamson had 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists on the night, and it’s safe to say that he single-handedly led New Orleans. He also shot 63% from the field, making 17 of 27 shots.

What makes Williamson so great is that he doesn’t have a three-point shot. He doesn’t attempt the three-pointer, and opponents know it, which means you only have to defend the perimeter against him. But they know it, and they can’t stop him. On this particular night, Williamson’s opponent was Davis, one of the best defenders in the NBA. Davis couldn’t control Williamson at all.

But something bad happened after the game. News broke that Williamson suffered a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter. The injury put Williamson’s status for Tuesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings in doubt.

Will Williamson be able to shake off the injury and lead New Orleans to the first round of the playoffs?