LOS ANGELES – Every time Zion Williamson touches the ball in a half-court set, he gathers information about the other nine players on the floor.
With so much attention paid to each possession, there’s a lot to sift through. His eyes darted from one side of the court to the other, helping his mind organize his thoughts.
Where do double teams come from? Are you giving my shooters too much space? How would you react if I drove a baseline? Are there shot blocks I should be concerned about?
While Williamson is known for his toughness and extraordinary burst, he doesn’t get enough credit for his mental game. He enjoys that part of the basketball as much as throwing down a high-flying dunk or using a feather touch around the basket. And since entering the league in 2019, his understanding of how to control defenses has improved significantly.
“I’m playing chess in the game, seeing how the defense is going to protect me,” he said.
Wednesday night provided the greatest evidence of maturity. With Williamson orchestrating the New Orleans offense, the Pelicans continued their streak with a 117-106 victory over an LA Clippers team that had won 26 of its last 31 games.
In perhaps the best win of the season for a New Orleans team that has previously struggled against top-level competition, Williamson turned in his most impressive performance of the campaign. He finished with 21 points and 10 assists – the first time he had at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game.
But most importantly, he dominated the game from start to finish. As a point guard.
“I’ll pick my points,” Williamson said after the win. “(My teammates) trust me to make the right decision, but they trust me to be me when the time comes.”
We’ve seen glimpses of “Point Zion” before, most notably in the 2020-21 season under then-coach Stan Van Gundy. In recent weeks, Pelicans coach Willie Green has started running most of his team’s half-court offense from the opening tip through Williamson.
But Wednesday was one of the first times Williamson accepted responsibility for playing the position. Doing well requires continuous big picture analysis of the game and the opponent, as well as identifying exactly what it takes for your team to be successful at any given time.
Williamson balanced those duties throughout the night against a Clippers team that enters Wednesday night as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They threw a variety of looks and matchups at Williamson throughout the game. None of them worked. He separated them all the way to the rim with his passing and attack.
“(We’ve seen) it’s been tough for teams to help. When he’s got the ball, you’ve got to make some choices,” Green said of the decision to play Williamson more at point guard. He’s hitting really well. If he doesn’t have[Williamson]they can close the line a little bit.
As Green has had more time to assess the full strength of his often-injured roster, he has made a few adjustments to put his best players in the most valuable positions. He spoke openly about giving Williamson more touches, giving the star the freedom to run the offense as a 280-pound point guard. Going this route, he criticized Williamson for involving himself from the start of the game. Also, when Williamson has the ball, it makes it easier for the Pelicans to spread the floor with shooters and create open perimeter opportunities, rather than allowing defenses to get away from him and clog the paint.
Above all, Green’s design adjustment forced opponents to expose their defensive strategy against the Pelicans’ star early in games. And this is when the chess match begins.
In his last eight games, Williamson has finished with at least nine assists, including his 10 assists in Wednesday’s win. Prior to this eight-game stretch, Williamson had dished out 9 or more assists in a game just twice in his career.
“You’re watching that superstar jump,” Pelicans forward Trey Murphy said. A lot of guys come into the league with that power and offensive ability[and]don’t have to pass that often. They just reach for their buckets. They make that leap when they start involving their teammates. Then, men should be very close to their bodies. Now, you have more room to attack. He’s really figuring it out. He’s starting to lead the offense.”
Williamson was patient early Wednesday, scoring just two points on 0-2-2 shooting in the first half, allowing his teammates to get into rhythm. Despite Williamson’s lack of scoring, New Orleans entered halftime with a comfortable eight-point lead.
Then Williamson took over when it mattered most. He poured in 19 in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter. He forced the issue with eight minutes left in the game when Clippers backup center Mason Plumley singled it out. All six of Plumlee’s fouls came against Williamson.
Williamson said his decision to take over in the second half was not a discussion with the coaching staff or his teammates. He was the one who felt the game was out and understood the Clippers were trying to take the energy to come back.
“It’s like an eye exam. You feel it,” Williamson said. “When you watch the game on the court, you know when there’s a change of pace. You know when the opposing team is trying to run. You have to do everything you can to stop that and stand by you.
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In particular, Williamson has begun forming an unspoken bond with McCollum, the team’s highest-profile prospect at the 2022 trade deadline. The 32-year-old guard finished with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from 3 for the Clippers.
No matter how many teammates McCollum has been on the floor with him this season, it’s hard to deny the growing chemistry between him and Williamson. The two biggest shots from the Pelicans on Wednesday came from a simple two-man play between Williamson and McCollum that the coaching staff didn’t work on or practice. They simply involved the two playing a game of throwing the ball back and forth.
“It’s one of those pick your poison (plays),” Williamson said. “I tell CJ,[Jordan Hawkin]Trey, whoever’s on the court, stay right there (behind the 3-point line). If you send a double team, I’ll make the right play.
The attention Williamson demands opens up the floor for every teammate, but McCollum in particular is a player who can create a lot of space for Williamson by controlling the pair’s two-man game and being in the right position where defenses overcrowd the paint. . Green doesn’t always have to design plays off the bench. He can have his two best players work off each other and figure it out on the fly.
With Williamson growing into this settled role and the players around him finding their place, the Pelicans suddenly look like a playoff contender that could be more dangerous to other West contenders. Wednesday’s win improved their record to 30-21 after 51 games, tied with Phoenix for the fifth-best record in the conference.
Although they need a more offensive direction, they have mostly reached this point. The Pelicans have one of the deepest rosters in the league and while all of their key pieces are finally healthy, roles have been changing from night to night. The inconsistency of the team’s stars — Williamson, Ingram and McCollum — created uncertainty about which player should dominate as games wound down in the fourth quarter.
But Williamson, if he continues to improve in this new edition of “Point Zion,” could be on the verge of distinguishing himself and becoming the team’s table-setter in the big moments. And if he’s physically and mentally prepared to make that long jump, the Pelicans should be taken seriously.
(Top photo of Zion Williamson: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)