New Orleans Pelicans’ forward Zion Williamson suffered a hamstring injury in Tuesday’s 110-106 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA play-in game, per Shams Chaania of The Athletic.
The Pelicans, who have lost six straight at home, next face the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday. The winner will land the No. 8 seed. The loser’s season is over.
Williamson finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — and had just tied the score at 95-95 with 3:13 left in the game when he was forced to exit. Visibly frustrated, he threw a towel as he made his way to the locker room.
“Right now, it’s left leg soreness and he’s going to get imaging on it tomorrow,” Pelicans coach Willie Green told NBA reporters. “We will figure out more. That’s the report I got back. I haven’t talked to him. But we’ll see what happens tomorrow when we get the results back.”
Per Andrew Lopez of ESPN, Williamson didn’t appear to have a limp as he left the arena. Nor was he sporting any wraps, Lopez added.
Williamson appeared in a career-high 71 games this season, compiling averages of 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 57.0 % from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 70.2% from the free-throw line.
According to NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Williamson has lost 25 pounds since December.
“I’ve got people in New Orleans telling me that since December, when the In-Season Tournament happened, that Zion Williamson has lost 25 or more pounds and his performance has been excellent,” Windhorst said. “He’s playing fewer minutes and I think that helps as well, but I’ve got people telling me he’s lost 25 pounds.”
Williamson has been playing at a high level ever since New Orleans lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on December 7 in Las Vegas during the In-Season Tournament.
During an interview with NBA reporter William Guillory of The Athletic, Williamson said “people don’t understand” how much he loves basketball.
“People don’t understand how much I really love this s—,” Williamson said. “I pour everything into doing my best for the team and for the people who support me in New Orleans. I get it. You can only go off the information that’s in front of you. But that’s the great thing about the opportunity we have the rest of the way. We get to write our own story.”
The Pelicans signed Williamson to a five-year, $197 million extension in July 2022.
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