The New Orleans Pelicans lost their play-in showdown with the Lakers 110-106, but that might not have been their most significant loss of the evening.
Star forward Zion Williamson left the game midway through the 4th quarter with the Pelicans coming all the way back from 18 points down amid a stunning rally. He drove to the hoop and laid the ball in to get to 40 points on the night and tie the game at 95, but came up grimacing.
He walked gingerly back toward the bench in clear discomfort, ultimately slamming down a towel before heading back to the locker. He did not return as the Lakers polished off the hard-fought win, their second in three days over New Orleans.
Head coach Willie Green had few details to share in his postgame press conference, but termed the situation as "left leg soreness." He could not specify what part of the leg was the issue, but said that Williamson would undergo imaging tests on Wednesday morning to ascertain more information.
“It was tough to see him go down," Green said. "You know, we’re all praying and hoping that he’s OK, but he was battling. He was going, and the team was just right there with him, so it’s tough. We’ll see what happens and we’ll go from there.”
The loss means the Pelicans will be back at the Smoothie King Center on Friday night when they'll host the winner of the second play-in game between the Kings and Warriors. The Lakers advance to the playoff bracket as the 7 seed.
The biggest question looming will be whether Williamson is available, and what his outlook will be. Williamson appeared in a career high 70 regular season games this season and was appearing in his first play-in game. Williamson missed the play-in runs each of the past two years due to injury.
Williamson finished with a game-high 40 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. LeBron James had 23, Anthony Davis had 21 and DeAngelo Russell 20 to lead the Lakers.
“He was fantastic," Green said of Zion. "He settled into the game. He just continued to attack. He found seams. He rebounded the ball. He played fast, and when he’s attacking like that, he’s a tough matchup for anybody, and you know, we have him for a few more minutes, maybe we have a chance to pull this thing out.”
The Pelicans are just the second 7 seed to lose a play-in game since the end-of-year tournament's inception. The only other such team to lose was the Heat a year ago, with Miami bouncing back and getting all the way to the NBA Finals before falling to the Nuggets.
