Pelicans at Warriors
Zion Williamson is providing exactly the kind of production the New Orleans Pelicans envisioned when they made him the No. 1 pick in the draft last June and are hoping it's not too late for him to lead them to the playoffs. Williamson and the Pelicans will try to win for the fifth time in six games when they visit the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
New Orleans remains a longshot for the postseason at four games behind the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies but is clearly a team on the rise and Williamson handed out three of the team's 36 assists in Friday's 128-115 win over Portland to go with a team-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in his 11th game. "Everybody's unselfish," Williamson told reporters. "We always make the extra pass. It's great for us. As long as we keep those big assist numbers up, we'll be fine." The Warriors are hoping to find someone like Williamson at the top of this June's draft to throw in the lineup with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins, putting this disappointing season behind them, but in the meantime will try to snap their latest slide at five straight. Golden State came out of the All-Star break on Thursday and was crushed 135-105 at home by the Houston Rockets while allowing 25 made 3-pointers.
TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBA TV, FS New Orleans, NBCS Bay Area, Sportsnet One
ABOUT THE PELICANS (24-32): Williamson is averaging 22.4 points on 57.8 percent shooting and 7.2 rebounds and meshed well on Friday with All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, who returned after missing the final three games before the break due to an ankle injury and delivered 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting - 3-of-4 from beyond the arc - and six assists in 28 minutes. Shooting guard Jrue Holiday added 20 points, nine assists and four steals in the win, just missing his fourth consecutive double-double. The Pelicans shot 53.6 percent from the floor, including 18-of-34 from 3-point range, against Portland and improved to 13-15 on the road with a stop at the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers coming up on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (12-44): Golden State still plans for Curry (broken hand) to return next month but officially ruled out Thompson (knee) for the season on Thursday. "Klay was expecting this," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "It's been a very frustrating year for Klay, but I think he's almost out of the woods. He's a couple months away from this season ending and moving towards a summer of preparing for the next season with his teammates. I think that's a much better place for him to be emotionally." The rest of the regular season is about integrating the new pieces into a roster that plans to contend again next season, and Wiggins is already impressing by averaging 22.8 points and playing solid defense in four games since coming over in a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors are expected to sign F Dragan Bender, who was released by the Milwaukee Bucks prior to the All-Star break, to a 10-day contract.
2. Pelicans SG Josh Hart collected 13 points and 13 rebounds on Friday for his eighth double-double of the season.
3. The home team took each of the first two meetings this season, with Golden State taking a 106-102 decision in the most recent matchup on Dec. 20.