Zion Williamson enjoys 'dream' NBA debut despite Pelicans defeat

Zion Williamson’s sublime 17-point surge in a span of barely more than three minutes could very well become part of New Orleans’ pro sports lore — even if final score won’t.

For Pelicans, a narrow loss to a well-coached, savvy San Antonio Spurs team carried far less weight than burgeoning form of a young superstar in making.

“ way he came out was very poised,” veteran Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday said of Williamson. “ way he played ... bringing energy, especially down stretch, was something that I guess you don’t really see from somebody so young. But even on top of that, we are almost in February and he hadn’t played a game yet, so for him to be able to come out here and do that his first game is pretty elite.”

Extraordinary hype, fueled by social media, has followed affable, 6-foot-6, 285-pound Williamson since his high school days in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It only increased during his one stellar season at Duke, making him consensus . 1 overall NBA draft pick well before Pelicans won draft lottery and right to select him.

Pro basketball fans had to wait an extra three months to see how Williamson’s rare combination of size and skill would translate in an meaningful NBA game because of cautious and comprehensive approach Pelicans took to ir prized rookie’s rehabilitation from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

But it took only one game for Williamson to do something extraordinary.

He made all four 3s he attempted in fourth quarter Wednesday, stirring Smoothie King Center crowd into a jubilant frenzy. In between, he laid in an alley-oop lob and put back an offensive rebound with a reverse layup.

“It was nice to experience those emotions,” Williamson said. “I was happy to be out re and be able to run out re again, but what was going through my mind was just, ‘Be calm.’”

Williamson’s final statistical line was 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds and three assists in 18:08 on court.

“ way he plays, that’s something he can do every day,” Holiday said. “Adding Zion is a big part to what we want to do here and our success.”

Fans wanted to see more, but coach Alvin Gentry said he couldn’t heed ir chants of “We want Zion!,” during final five minutes of a 121-117 loss.

“ medical people said that was it,” Gentry said, alluding to precautionary restrictions placed on Williamson’s playing time in early days of his return to action.

“Me, personally, I don’t want any restrictions,” Williamson said. “But I’m t a doctor or a trainer, so I’ve just got to listen to m.”

Pelicans are back in action twice in four days, hosting Denver on Friday and Boston on Sunday. If Williamson’s 19-year-old body responds well to his early action, his playing time is expected to lengn.

“What you saw re is a taste of once we really get settled in and he gets settled in, you can see that re’s a lot of things we can do with him,” Gentry said. “re’s a lot of potential re. It was good to see him do that, but you kw I think re’s a really, really high ceiling that he can reach.”

Everything about Williamson’s debut exuded a big-event vibe. game was sold out and hundreds of fans were waiting to pour into arena when gates opened about an hour before tip-off.

“ energy was re from warm-ups,” Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball said. “That is most people I have seen coming out before game even started.”

Tip-off was pushed back 90 minutes to accommodate national TV and Pelicans media relations staff said y’d issued about 165 credentials, more than five times typical number for a mid-week game in January.

For a little more than three quarters, when Williamson had five points and four turvers, it looked like his first game would disappoint lively, capacity crowd that came to see him. n, suddenly, Williamson had place on its feet and in a state of near delirium.

Holiday ted that Williamson had been rocking arenas since high school, adding rhetorically, “As exciting as it was, is it really that much of a surprise?”

Perhaps t. But it was memorable.