The New Orleans Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-103 in the 9-10 National Basketball Association Western Conference play-in game on Wednesday. With the win, the Pelicans will play the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, with the winner getting the number eight seed.
Offensively, the Pelicans were led by guard CJ McCollum, who had a game-high 32 points. McCollum was acquired by New Orleans in a midseason trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Other Pelicans who reached double digits in scoring were Brandon Ingram (27 points), Jonas Valanciunas (22 points), Herb Jones (12 points), and Jose Alvarado (12 points). Valanciunas added a double-double as he had 14 rebounds.
The biggest story of the night actually did not happen in the game itself. It actually happened in warmups. That is when Pelicans star Zion Williamson delivered with an amazing 360 degrees dunk. Williamson has been out all year with a broken foot. In March, it was reported by Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports that Williamson would be out for the rest of the season. But now after this dunk, NBA fans have every right to ask what if, or how close?
If the Pelicans do find a way to get by the Clippers on Friday, New Orleans would then play the NBA-best Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Suns would obviously be the favourite, however if you add Williamson to a mix that would already include Valanciunas, Ingram and McCollum, New Orleans would be a formidable opponent for Phoenix, and one of the most dangerous eighth seeds in recent years.
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