D’Angelo Russell on Zion Williamson: ‘He’s playing football, we playing basketball’

By HoopsHype | December 29, 2022

And to rub salt on the Timberwolves’ wounds, Zion Williamson stole a lazy pass from D’Angelo Russell on the ensuing possession, leading to a go-ahead transition dunk for the 6’6 forward. Speaking with reporters after the game, Russell expressed his frustrations over the physicality of Williamson’s game. “He ran through my guy, took the ball. He’s playing football, we playing basketball. We can’t touch him or guard him. So, good for him,” Russell said.Source: Jedd Pagaduan @ Clutch Points What’s the buzz on Twitter? Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_EichenhoferTrey Murphy on #Pelicans postgame radio, discussing Zion’s career-high 43 points vs. Wolves: “That’s the MVP of the league. It doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s going to do amazing things, even when he’s out for a couple days, he’s still that man. I have the utmost belief in him.” – 12:40 AM Christian Clark @cclark_13Trey Murphy on Zion’s 3: “I also tell him a lot of times, ‘If they are going to leave you that open, you have to shoot the ball. Your jumper not ugly. It might go in.’ It went in. People should listen to me.” – 12:01 AM Chris Palmer @ChrisPalmerNBAGiannis turns right around with 45 pts, 22 rebs, 7 asts. It ain’t Luka but it’s in the neighborhood. Then Zion goes for a career-high 43. Not to mention Embiid’s 48 & 10 got completely overlooked last night.What’s gotten into these guys?? – 10:58 PM Tommy Beer @TommyBeerAnt Edwards is 21 years oldZion and Haliburton are 22.Luka and Ja are 23.Tatum and Trae and 24NBA is in great shape. – 10:57 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselThrilling 119-118 victory. The New Orleans Pelicans obviously don’t win this game without Zion Williamson.43 points3 rebounds5 assists1 three/steal/blockAnd what a second half by Z: 19 points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth — the last 14 for the Pels! #MVP – 10:50 PM Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_LopezFINAL: Pels 119, Wolves 118– Zion: 43p (career high)– Trey: 21p, 5/6 3P– CJ: 20p, 6a, 3r– JV: 12p, 11r– Naji: 12p, 7rPels: 48.1 FG%, 11/24 3P, 30/43 FTWolves: 50.6 FG%, 10/29 3P, 24/32 FT – 10:49 PM Michael Pina @MichaelVPinathat game was great. zion is irrepressible. superduperstar performance.(probably not rock bottom for rudy yet but that was a really bad one.) – 10:47 PM Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_LopezZion Williamson tonight:43 points (career high)14/21 FG1/1 3P14/19 FT (Career high FTM, tied career high FTA)5 assists3 rebounds1 block1 steal33 points in the second half – 10:47 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryFinal: Pelicans 119, Wolves 118Williamson 43 pts (career high), 5 asstsMurphy 21 ptsMcCollum 20 ptsZion scores the Pels’ final 14 points in the 4th to pull off the epic comeback. One of the most impressive performances of his young career. Completely willed NOLA to the win. – 10:47 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13Final: Pelicans 119, Timberwolves 118Zion scores a career-high 43 points. Scored final 16 points of the game for New Orleans.Dyson Daniels played great defense on Anthony Edwards on the final possession.New Orleans is 15-4 at The Blender. – 10:46 PM Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNUSo Pelicans were down 110-105 with 3 minutes leftZion Williamson goes out and scores last 14 points for New Orleans, including go-ahead FT, and they beat TimberwolvesYoung talent in the league is 🆙 – 10:45 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_EichenhoferZion splits free throws to give him 43 pts and put #Pelicans up 1 with 3.5 ticks left. Wolves rebound the second and call time to draw up something. Min almost had a meltdown as refs initially ruled two delay of games on D’Angelo Russell, who was loitering around the circle – 10:45 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryZion makes one of two. Pels are up 119-118 with 3.5 seconds left.He’s score the Pels’ last 14 points and is up to a career-high 43 points tonight. – 10:44 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson makes the first, misses the second free throw. Pelicans have a slender 119-118 lead with 3.5 seconds remaining.New Orleans has missed 13 freebies tonight. – 10:44 PM Jake Madison @NOLAJakeDyson Daniels, a rookie, with as important of a rebound as you’ll see. Gets the ball to Zion who drives and draws the foul on Gobert. Gobert’s 6th. What a sequence – 10:43 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson is going to the free throw line in a 118-118 game after Dyson Daniels grabs Naji Marshall’s miss and hits Z on a cut through the lane.4.0 seconds left. – 10:42 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson, in his first game back from COVID, immediately resumes his MVP campaign. He’s scored 32 of his 42 points here in the 2nd half and that steal was as big as any the Pelicans have had this year.New Orleans 118, Timberwolves 116. 39.1 seconds left. – 10:40 PM Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_LopezZion Williamson with his first career 40-point game.And then he puts an exclamation point on that with a steal and dunk for 42.Pels up 118-116 with 39.1 to go. – 10:40 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselAnd Zion Williamson just tied things up at 112 with his 36th point.He’s 3 points away from tying his career high. – 10:37 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson held the finish on his made 3 like he’s been doing it with regularity. God love him. – 10:36 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselWillie Green wanted a foul called on Naji Marshall’s drive and Jonas Valanciunas came up to the same referee talking about how his jersey was held on Zion’s last drive and miss.The referees are getting an earful tonight and it appears rightfully so. – 10:33 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselTrey Murphy has connected on 5 of 6 attempts from 3-point range. Zion Williamson has assisted on his last 4 makes.This connection is only going to grow stronger and will be a thing of beauty to watch for years. – 10:10 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryEnd of the 3rd: Wolves 88, Pelicans 86Williamson 29 pts (19 in 3rd), 5 asstsMurphy 20 pts (5-6 3PT)McCollum 13 pts, 5 asstsBoth teams combined to shoot 38 free throws in a very feisty 3rd quarter. Zion is dominating on offense, but Pels have to defend w/o fouling. – 10:09 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13There were 38 free throws attempted in the third quarter. Pels have got the lead down to 2. Zion is cooking. Scored 19 in the quarter. Timberwolves loading up on him to a hilarious degree. – 10:08 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson has taken this game over with his scoring and passing in the third quarter. Little Michael Jordan-like fist bump after Dyson Daniels grabs the defensive rebound and was fouled. – 10:06 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson has taken this game over with his scoring and passing in the third quarter. Little fist Michael Jordan-ish fist bump after Dyson Daniels grabs the defensive rebound and was fouled. – 10:06 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryWillie Green was really upset after that last offensive foul call against Zion. Had to be held back by a few Pels people.There have been a total of 38 foul calls so far tonight. – 9:56 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_EichenhoferZion up to 27 pts and Wolves just resorted to double-teaming him 25 feet from the basket and not worrying about the weakside. The result was a Trey Murphy trey, but I guess Wolves are tired of Zion getting to rim. Min 83-79 late 3Q – 9:55 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion probably could have taken the “wall” of Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes, but he wisely he hit an open Trey Murphy across the court.Boom, triple!Pelicans deficit is down to 83-79. – 9:55 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselThe Pelicans try a defensive zone on back-to-back possessions but no dice. Timberwolves scored on both.On the other end, though, Zion Williamson has scored 17 of his 27 points out of halftime and there’s 4:19 left in this third quarter. – 9:49 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryEnd of 1st half: Wolves 55, Pels 49Murphy 12 pts (3-3 3PT)Williamson 10 ptsMcCollum 9 pts, 3 asstsPhysical game so far. Pels have struggled a bit to adjust. They’re shooting 11-25 in the paint. Wolves are 15-20 in the paint. Zion has also been really frustrated w/ the refs. – 9:09 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13Pels found something at the end of the half with the CJ-Naji-Zion-Trey-Larry five. Got down by as many as 11. They’ve cut it to 6. – 9:09 PM Andrew Lopez @_Andrew_LopezHALF: T’Wolves 55, Pelicans 49– Trey: 12p, 3/3 3P– Zion: 10p, 3r, 2a– CJ: 9p, 3a– JV: 8p, 5rPels: 42.5 FG%, 5/11 3P, 10/13 FTWolves: 48.9 FG%, 5/16 3P, 6/9 FT – 9:07 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKoselZion Williamson is thoroughly unhappy with the lack of whistles from the referees in this first half. – 9:02 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_EichenhoferFeels like #Pelicans just need to get through this stretch where they cannot seem to make a jumper (other than Trey Murphy, 9 pts, 3/3 on 3s). NOLA still 37% after Zion layup but only trails by 5 – 8:56 PM Will Guillory @WillGuilloryEnd of the 1st: Wolves 28, Pelicans 24Murphy 6 pts (2-2 3PT)Valanciunas 6 pts, 4 rebsWilliamson 4 pts, 3 rebsPels went 7-20 from the field, 3-10 in the paint – 8:40 PM NBA Math @NBA_MathWest All-Stars, per RPR MVP Predictor:STARTERSLuka DoncicShai Gilgeous-AlexanderNikola JokicAnthony DavisZion WilliamsonBENCHStephen CurryDevin BookerDomantas SabonisLeBron JamesLauri MarkkanenJa MorantDeandre AytonALTERNATESLillard, Fox, Grant pic.twitter.com/7GwuYbk72X – 11:45 AM Dane Moore @DaneMooreNBAWolves players shooting 40% from 3 before KAT got hurt (first 21 games)Kyle Anderson: 41.2%Wolves players that have shot 40% from 3 since KAT got hurt (last 13 games)Austin Rivers: 48.7%Anthony Edwards: 41.3%D’Angelo Russell: 41.2%Jaden McDaniels: 40.5%Naz Reid: 40.0% – 2:24 PM More on this storyline To leave a comment, you will need to Sign in or create an account if you already have an account. 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