Tensions flared Friday night between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns after Zion Williamson threw down a 360 dunk in the final seconds of regulation.
Suns players and coaches cleared their benches following Williamson’s emphatic slam to seal the deal on the Pelicans’ 128-117 victory, which further expanded their lead atop the Western Conference standings.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… ZION WILLIAMSON. pic.twitter.com/MhjV7Zpl0R
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 10, 2022
Suns vs. Pelicans after Zion’s late game dunk. 👀
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 10, 2022
There’s an unwritten rule in basketball that you should let the clock run out instead of trying to score if the game is already decided. That said, this dunk was sick!
After the game, Williamson acknowledged the jam was controversial, and said he did it because Phoenix eliminated his team from the postseason last year while he was out injured.
“That was a little out of character for me. But you gotta understand, they sent my teammates home last year… But I was in that locker room, my brothers was down because the Suns sent us home last year.”
“That was a little out of character for me. But you gotta understand … They sent my teammates home last year.”
Zion speaks on his late 360 windmill dunk during the Pelicans-Suns game. He kept receipts ✍️ pic.twitter.com/OmLHkDBnTt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 10, 2022
You have to respect Williamson’s desire to throw down this 360-windmill. He did it for his teammates that were hurt from being eliminated a season ago by this same Suns team. If that isn’t a good justification, I don’t know what is.
I’ve always thought people getting irritated by late game scoring was cheesy. You should play till the clock hits triple zeros. If Phoenix didn’t want this to happen to them again, they shouldn’t have allowed the game to get to that point to begin with.