Bucks at Pelicans
Zion Williamson is on the court and healthy for the New Orleans Pelicans, and his coach thinks his team needs to get him the ball more. Williamson will try to increase his activity and get the host Pelicans back in the win column when they face a tough test in the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
Williamson is averaging 19.5 points on 61.5 percent shooting through his first six games and posted 21 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday but went nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter without touching the ball, and coach Alvin Gentry was not pleased. "You gotta throw him the damn basketball," Gentry told reporters after the 117-109 setback at Houston. "I mean it has nothing to do with playing together, figuring it out. He's got an advantage and we gotta find a way to get him the basketball down there. So, I'm not buying the playing together or figuring out anything like that. We have to have him have touches in the fourth quarter." The Bucks will present a different challenge for Williamson, who will likely spend some time chasing reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on the defensive end. Antetokounmpo delivered 30 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists on Saturday as Milwaukee bounced back from a rare loss and breezed past the Phoenix Suns 129-108 to post its 10th win in the last 11 games.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: TNT, TSN 1/4
ABOUT THE BUCKS (42-7): Milwaukee got a strong effort on Saturday from center Brook Lopez, who scored 17 points and recorded nine blocked shots after scoring in single digits and totaling three blocks in the previous two contests. Khris Middleton (25 points, 9-of-15 shooting) and Eric Bledsoe (12 points, 5-of-8) enjoyed solid games as well and finding places for all the talent on the roster to thrive is the challenge for the coaching staff. "It's a delicate balance," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "We try to play with a lot of pace and play with a lot of spacing. Between Brook and Khris and Giannis, try to get them in the post. Get Bled in the pick-and-roll game. Hopefully we can continue to nurture that, and (Lopez) can be a threat that way."
ABOUT THE PELICANS (20-30): New Orleans All-Star small forward Brandon Ingram collected 28 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday but went scoreless in the fourth quarter and acknowledged some of the team's issues integrating Williamson. "That's something that we're figuring out," Ingram told reporters. "Some of that has to come from the coaches and the execution of putting him in the right positions to score the basketball on the block or wherever he wants the basketball, keeping that rhythm the same as we go through the first to the fourth quarter." Williamson, Ingram, Lonzo Ball (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Josh Hart (16 and 10) all recorded double-doubles in the loss as the Pelicans dominated the glass 63-43.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pelicans SG JJ Redick went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting on Sunday, snapping a streak of 12 straight games scoring in double figures.
2. Bucks G Donte DiVincenzo (ankle) returned from a one-game absence on Saturday and scored 15 points in 22 minutes off the bench.
3. Milwaukee turned away New Orleans 127-112 at home on Dec. 11 despite Redick's 31 points.