Zion Williamson may be only three minutes away from his first playoff game. When he tied the score at 95 with a layup in the last quarter yesterday, he immediately felt discomfort in his left leg.
pause is still called Lakers . James felt that this defense was not successful in restricting Zion. At that time, the Lakers probably did not notice that Zion was already limping when walking, and we in front of the screen did not notice either.
Until the timeout, the camera suddenly showed Zion angrily throwing away his towel, walking towards the player tunnel, and then never returned to the game. Before leaving the field, Zion had 40+11+5, eating the Lakers inside alive. After leaving the field, Pelican took a turn for the worse and ultimately lost the chance to compete for seventh place.
What's worse is that the Pelicans are losing their competitiveness to compete with the king for the last playoff spot. Zion's injury was ultimately determined to be a left hamstring strain. I have said many times before that hamstring injuries are troublesome and take a long time to recover. Haliburton's condition plummeted because of this injury.
Zion is determined to be unable to participate in the playoffs with the Kings, and it will take a few weeks for further evaluation. In other words, if the Pelicans without Zion can defeat the Kings and enter the playoffs, Zion will most likely not be able to catch up.
Some time ago, when Zion defeated and the Clippers , I said that Zion was about to usher in its first playoffs. Now it seems that it is too early to say this. Yingge was injured unexpectedly, and the Pelicans were familiar with a decline in their record in the closing stages. Two losses to the Lakers were too fatal.
Yesterday's game was the first time Zion played after the regular season. Zion is healthy enough this season. He has played 70 regular season games, 9 more than his previous career single-season appearance record.
Of course, his playing time is the lowest since his rookie season. Both the number of shots and efficiency have declined slightly. His scoring average has dropped from 26 points last season to 22.8 points this season. In the first half of the season, Fat Tiger was actually in a state of paddling.
On the one hand, he has not maintained his body shape very well, and on the other hand, it may be because he is trying to exert strength in the second half of the season. After the All-Star Game, Zion exerted his strength in March, playing his most brilliant moment of the season in the last game of the season, and then came to an abrupt end at the most brilliant moment.
Although all statistics have dropped, I think Zion's growth this season is obvious. He still doesn't shoot three-pointers, but he has made many more mid-range shots than before. At least now he no longer only knows how to rush to the basket like a bull.
When the Pelicans need him to stand at the fifth position, he will also play inside in a small lineup. Zion said: "This allows us to switch defenses infinitely, and the opponent cannot find our weaknesses."
Unfortunately, We still can't see what level Zion will be in the playoffs. Of course, the intensity of yesterday's play-off game was not much different from that of the playoffs. After the disastrous defeat in the last game, Zion learned his shame and courage, inspired all his body's abilities, and then got injured again.
So should we think about it, can Zion's body really support him in playing such a high-intensity game? Zion was injured yesterday without confrontation, which means that the load on his body has reached its limit. After the string couldn't be stretched any longer, it suddenly broke.
Although he has carefully protected his body for a season, Fat Tiger still suffered the worst injury in the most critical battle of the season. But compared to this, I think the Pelicans should really consider whether the current lineup of this team has a future.
When the Fat Tigers were killing everyone in the last quarter yesterday, Ingram and CJ were both off the court. The stars of the Pelicans team seem to have no chemical reaction at all. When one gets injured, the other always starts to show off.
's script is like this every year. The beginning of the season is tepid, injuries occur in the middle of the season and the winning streak begins, and the team loses competitiveness at the end of the season for various reasons. It gives people a feeling of hope and then the hope is quickly dashed. Pelicans fans have felt it too deeply in recent years.
Neither Fat Tiger nor Yingge can do the work of organization forward, and cj is a scoring defender, so he can't do the work of organization. The Pelicans lacked a starting-level point guard from beginning to end, causing the team's offense to be unable to sort out.
Herbert Jones had the strongest season of his career, but after all, he is a role player who cannot change much. Wa Lan is still a stable starting center, but the problem of being unable to play high-end games has been there a few years ago, and now he is much worse than his peak.
If I were playing 2k, the Pelicans, a deformed lineup with two forwards as the core, would have been taken apart long ago. But in the real world, dismantling the lineup is never a matter of words. Who should be given up and whom should be strengthened, and when can the chips be exchanged? These are all huge problems facing the Pelicans.
Now it seems that if Big Ball is not injured, is he a perfect defender for the Pelicans? Unfortunately, it's still an injury.
