Pelicans at Pacers
Rookie forward Zion Williamson continues to make an impact for the New Orleans Pelicans. Williamson aims for his seventh 20-point outing in nine career games when the Pelicans visit the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
Williamson tallied 21 points on superb 9-of-11 shooting as New Orleans posted a 125-119 road victory over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. "Obviously, he is a freak athlete, but he's also very skillful," Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball told reporters. "You can give it to him on the break, post-ups, short rolls, so he can score in a lot of different ways. And that's why it's so hard to stop him." The Pacers have dropped four straight games after suffering a 115-106 home loss to the red-hot Toronto Raptors on Friday and coach Nate McMillan's postgame message to his team was short and succinct. "We didn't defend, we didn’t take care of the ball," McMillan said afterward. "... Let get's out, we have another one (Saturday)."
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS New Orleans, FS Indiana
ABOUT THE PELICANS (21-31): All-Star small forward Brandon Ingram suffered an ankle injury during the win over the Bulls and is listed as questionable for Saturday's contest. Ingram, who averages a team-best 24.9 points, scored 15 points in 21 minutes before exiting after averaging 26 points over the previous four games. Standout guard Jrue Holiday, who averages 19.2 points, is in a three-game funk by averaging nine points and making just 12-of-39 field-goal attempts.
ABOUT THE PACERS (31-21): Standout guard Victor Oladipo recently returned from a serious quadriceps injury that sidelined him for 12 months and he will sit out Saturday on the second end of a back-to-back. Oladipo scored a season-best 15 points on Friday in his fifth game since returning and his 5-of-11 shooting raised his percentage to a meager 28.1. "I thought it was pretty good first half for him as far as how he was moving," McMillan told reporters of Oladipo. "He seemed to be in a better rhythm. The second half, he looked a little tight when he came back into the game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Ingram scored 24 points to help the Pelicans roll to a 120-98 home win on Dec. 28.
2. Indiana PF Domantas Sabonis recorded 19 points and 16 rebounds on Friday for his third straight double-double and seventh in eight games.
3. New Orleans C Derrick Favors collected 15 rebounds against the Bulls and has reached double figures in seven of the past 10 games.