Zion Williamson scored a career-high 39 points Friday night in the Pelicans matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
"I just stayed aggressive and I stayed on the attack. I got a lot of my shots to fall,” Williamson said. “It wasn't enough."
Despite his efforts, the Pelicans fell to the Nuggets 113-108.
"We stopped. We got away from what we were doing in the first half: playing our game, moving the ball,” Pelicans guard Eric Bledsoe said. “I thought we just stopped, like I said, having fun. That first half, we were moving the ball. Everybody was touching it. It stopped, got a little stagnant.”
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night hitting just five of his 17 shot attempts.
“I thought their defense on him...they put two guys on him all the time and trapped him all night long,” Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Didn’t give him looks. I thought their defense had a great deal to do with it and I don’t think we were able to get him enough good looks after the first quarter. Early in the game, he got them and then we weren’t able to get him a lot after that.”
The Pelicans will look to bounce back quickly with a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night.