The improvement of Zion Williamson was on full display in a 144-113 Pelicans victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. Williamson had 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals in the win, which was nationally televised on TNT.
That stat line sounds impressive enough, but it’s much more impressive when you consider how *efficiently* he reached those numbers.
Williamson scored those 31 points by shooting 13-of-16 from the field, making his only three-point try, and going 4-of-4 at the charity stripe. He did all of that in just 28 minutes (he left the blowout victory with over eight minutes remaining).
Williamson is now averaging 24.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, while shooting 61.5% on field goals (and 71.1% at the line, after shooting 64.0% last season as a rookie). If he could finish the season averaging at least 24 points and 60% from the field, he would join Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kevin McHale as the only players to do so in NBA history. That’s pretty good company.
This comes just two Pelicans games after Williamson had 36 points on 14-of-15 shooting from the field (and 8-of-11 at the line) against the Dallas Mavericks. So, these kind of performances may be turning into a regular thing for Zion, and he’s just 20 years old. Ridiculous.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.