Is Zion Williamson Playing Tonight VS. OKC Thunder After Hinting at ‘Realistic’ Return?

The New Orleans Pelicans have been dealing with a stroke of bad luck during the ongoing Playoffs. The franchise has already lost two of its six matchups against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the most recent one ending with OKC occupying a 32-point lead over their rivals. While there may be multiple reasons for the same, a major factor in the Pelicans’ abysmal performance is the absence of their star player, Zion Williamson. With anticipation growing day by day for his eventual return to court, a recent update may provide details on a timeline regarding the same.

Zion Williamson was questioned by various media members; when asked about the possibility of him returning sometime in the postseason, the player replied that the plan for his return seems to be more “realistic” now than before. “It’s absolutely realistic, but, like I said, I gotta pass tests, get back to baseline, and hopefully I will be out there,” said Williamson.

The 23-year-old Pelicans power forward has been absent from the main lineup ever since his team faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers almost 1½ weeks ago. While the matchup ended with Williamson delivering his best points of the regular season (40 points), it came at the cost of sidelining him for future games. After getting diagnosed with a left hamstring injury, the player was set to be reevaluated in the coming weeks. While the Pelicans managed to defeat the Kings in the play-in series to advance to the next stage, their lead scorer’s absence seems to have reflected during their two recent playoff games.

Keeping the Zion Williamson dilemma to the side, the good news for the Pelicans going into the matchup is that no other player from their roster has been listed on the Injury Report. This will allow Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum to make another attempt, with their full roster, at putting up a total that can overlap the one created by Oklahoma.

Similar to their rivals, the Oklahoma City Thunder also have only one player listed on their report: Olivier Sarr. However, given that the 25-year-old center has only appeared in 5 games this tournament season, his absence would not affect the Thunder deeply.

Can Zion Williamson make it back to the Pelicans on time?

Renowned reporter Shams Charania also touched base on Zion Williamson’s possible return to the main lineup. According to him, the player remained hopeful that he would not take long to make a return as the series continued to progress. However, laying out his observations in the open, Charania also stated, “The Pelicans would have to make it out of the first round to open up his window for a return.”

With the Pelicans currently holding a 0-3 lead against OKC, even a single loss at this stage would eliminate them from round 2 of the Playoffs. As per Williamson’s past experience, however, that time gap is not sufficient to mark his return. “Hamstrings are tricky,” Charania noted while adding, “And last year, Zion Williamson missed several months with a hamstring injury. These lower body injuries aren’t things that just heal overnight or in a span of one or two weeks.”

A win in Game 4 will keep the Pelicans as a contender for a few more days. Three consecutive wins after that would advance them to the second round of the Playoffs. But all that the franchise needs to get them removed from the competition is just one loss. As for now, only time will tell whether the Pelicans will manage to prevent a loss before Zion Williamson’s return.