Knicks lose an ugly one to Zion Williamson-less Pelicans
By Peter Botte
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January 10, 2020 | 9:52pm	| Updated January 11, 2020 | 4:01am
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It hardly lived up to the one-time billing of a game that was supposed to mark Zion Williamson's professional debut at the Garden, especially coming against his former Duke teammate and Knicks lottery pick RJ Barrett.
Instead, it was just another blah game between two bad NBA teams trying to find their way, with the Knicks extending their latest losing streak to five with a 123-111 loss Friday night to the Pelicans.
Barrett missed five of his first six shots and scored just three points in the first half — before finishing with 16 on 5-for-15 from the floor — as the Knicks failed to record a home victory after going 0-4 on their recent western swing.
"He's done well. He's a rookie. Coming into a city like New York, I think he's been doing great," Williamson said of Barrett after the game. "He may not have the record he probably wants, but I know he's a winner. For a rookie to come in and handle New York the way he is, he's been doing great.
"That's my brother, we always talk. We're still competitive, we check on each other. I haven't been playing, so he's kind of got the lead at the moment. But we always check in."
Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett chat before the Knicks' 123-111 loss to the Pelicans on Friday night.NBAE via Getty Images
Williamson still is working toward his NBA debut following October surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, but he appears to be getting closer to a return to the court.
After exchanging hugs with Barrett, Zion showed off his legendary athleticism by throwing down a between-the-legs jam during pregame warm-ups.
"I didn't see it," Barrett said with a big smile. "I have absolutely no clue [when he's returning]. But I talked to him a couple of times today. It was great to see him, gave him a big hug. He's really happy. I just really want him back. I really hope to see him back on the court really soon."
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Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry added that whenever Williamson returns, it will be on some type of minutes-restriction.
"He's making progress and I think he's practicing and playing five-on-five," he said. "We're trying to gauge exactly when it would be a good situation to put him out there. But even when we do, it's going to be very limited minutes to start, as everybody would assume that it would."
The Pelicans (14-25), playing without the No. 1 overall draft pick all season, are just four games better than the Knicks (10-29) in the standings, despite New Orleans' 13-game losing streak that bridged November and December.
Nevertheless, the Knicks, still without leading scorers Julius Randle (personal reasons) and Marcus Morris (neck), trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, and took a 67-61 deficit into intermission.
A dunk and a free throw by Barrett drew the Knicks within one point early in the third, but an 18-8 Pelicans run restored the 11-point cushion. A layup by E'Twaun Moore barely two minutes into the final quarter extended the Knicks' deficit to 13. New Orleans pulled away from there, leading by as many as 18 in the closing minutes.
Brandon Ingram scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, while Lonzo Ball finished with 15 points with 11 assists for the Pelicans, who shot 47.4 percent (18-for-38) from 3-point range, compared to 18.5 percent (5-for-27) for the Knicks.
"They had a number of different guys stepping up hitting shots. They had a lot of 3s early in the game," said Taj Gibson, who led the Knicks with a season-high 19 points on 8-for-8 shooting. "We tried to slow them down, but we came up short."
Filed under brandon ingram , lonzo ball , mike miller , new orleans pelicans , new york knicks , rj barrett , taj gibson , Zion Williamson