SPURS at PELICANS | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | January 22, 2020 LaMarcus Aldridge put up 32 PTS and 14 REB to propel the San Antonio Spurs to a 121-117 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Zion Williamson scored 22 PTS and went 4-4 from deep in his NBA debut, including a 4th-quarter stretch in which he scored 17 straight points for New Orleans.

Three months into the season, Williamson is ready to lace up for his debut NBA game. I do wonder what goes through any rookie’s mind as they enter the arena, but I imagine he was as ready as ever….and showed tf out because of it. Not only did he manage to put up 22 points, 8-11 field goals (4/4 from the 3-pt line), 7 rebounds, and 3 assist, he did it all within 18 minutes of the second quarter. I know I recently said that I haven’t been this excited about an individual player in a while, but after last night, I can easily pin that same narrative to Zion Williamson.

Photo credit: Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images

During his senior year at Duke, Zion’s average was 22 points per game with 13.2 field goal attempts. So the 22 points didn’t necessarily come as a surprise. What did catch me off guard, however, was how he was able to switch his game up and play at the level he did so quickly; he went from a sub par performance in the first half to Megatron in the second…and the #NBATwitter went absolutely wild over it. His execution was impeccable, definitely the burst of energy that Pelicans have looking to evaluate the kid on.

Although the Pelicans did take the L last night - losing to the Spurs by a mere 4 points - Zion was still able to walk away victorious from a stellar debut. Now, all eyes are on the Pelicans for the rest of the season. Can/will he stay consistent? Will he continue to live up to the hype from being the no.1 draft pick from the 2019 NBA Draft? Could he be in the running for Rookie of the Year? Or will he drop the ball at some point? Most importantly, does he have what it takes to lead his team from being 12th in the Eastern conference to a higher standing in time for playoffs?