Pelicans News: Zion Williamson Achieves a Rare Rookie Scoring Feat

Zion Williamson registered a career-high points tally of his short career so far on Sunday during the game between New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.

Although Williamon could not lead the Pelicans to a won over the Western Conference leaders, his individual performance remained impressive. His 35 points came while shooting 75% from field goals.

It was only the 28th time in the history of NBA that a rookie has scored 35+ PTS on 75+ FG%. And it was the first time since Blake Griffin did it playing for Los Angeles Clippers in 2011.

Zion Williamson leading the New Orleans Pelicans in his rookie season

Just 15 games into his NBA career, Williamson is showing why he was considered as such a huge prospect. He has already racked up a few praiseworthy performances in a short NBA career. Sunday marked Zion’s third consecutive 30-point game.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry compared Williamson to former Philadelphia 76ers star Charles Barley. “I would say the closest thing [to Zion] is probably Charles Barkley,”  Gentry said.

“You might’ve seen Barkley do it in his day and stuff like that. He’s just got such great hands and such strong hands, most of the time if he gets his hand on the ball, he’s going to end up with it. That’s another reason why he’s so gifted at offensive rebounding his own shot.”

Led by Williamson, the Pelicans have a rejuvenated hope of making it to the playoffs. The Pelicans are currently one seed below the last playoff spot. The team above them, Memphis Grizzlies, have 29 wins in 60 games while the Pelicans look to improve their 26-34 record.