NBA All Star Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans will miss significant time due to a hamstring injury that he suffered Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The basketball star is seen dribbling the ball past midcourt late in the third quarter, when his right hamstring appears to stretch.
Zion Williamson hamstring injury running up the court vs 76ers pic.twitter.com/irNqV19ntR
— NBA SHORTS & HIGHLIGHTS (@SuccesWinner) January 3, 2023
Without Williamson on the floor during the fourth quarter, Philadelphia outscored the Pelicans by six points to lose 120-111 and to drop to 23-14 in the season, according to ESPN.
Williamson will now miss “multiple weeks” to recover from his hamstring strain, according to Senior NBA Insider for ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski.
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is expected to miss multiple weeks with a hamstring strain, sources tell ESPN. Williamson underwent an MRI today.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 3, 2023
The next few weeks of action will test the rest of the Pelicans’ roster. They will have to perform well and win games without their best player on their team being present.
As of right now, New Orleans is in the third spot in the Western Conference playoff standings but is only one game shy of being the first seed in conference and obtaining home court advantage all throughout the postseason. I am a believer in having home-court advantage. I would much rather have my team play a decisive game seven in front of their crowd as opposed to being on the road for one and getting heckled by thousands of loud and obnoxious fans. I think playing at home will forever give your team better odds of winning a decisive game. (RELATED: Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell Breaks Franchise Record, Scores Career-High 71 Points)
With that said, I believe in the rest of the talent on this Pelicans’ roster. I think they’re good enough to avoid any sort of serious slippage in the playoff standings during these next few weeks with Williamson out.
They still have 6-8 All Star small forward, Brandon Ingram, sharpshooting three-point marksman, CJ McCollum, defensive-star Jose Alvarado, and solid veterans playing for them at the center position.
The Pelicans have been a delightful surprise for NBA fans this season. They’re usually a losing franchise but this season they have peaked, and it seems like they’re serious contenders in the Western Conference.
I really hope Williamson can get back to 100% soon. I would absolutely hate it if New Orleans didn’t live up to their potential this year due to an injury like this.