Watch: Zion Williamson’s last-second dunk leads to confrontation
New Orleans Pelicans’ star Zion Williamson caused a little brouhaha with the Phoenix Suns on Friday night after unleashing an emphatic celebratory windmill dunk in the game’s waning seconds.
With the result well in hand, Williamson put an exclamation point on the victory, to the chagrin of the Suns. Players and coaches flooded the court after the final buzzer, but cooler heads eventually prevailed.
After the Pelicans’ 128-117 victory, head coach Willie Green spoke about the emotion on Friday night, knowing that the teams would meet again in only two days.
“Just two good teams battling it out,” Green said. “It’s good to be on the winning side of it. We got another one Sunday. We talked about it a few days ago in practice – this is a playoff-like situation where you get to play a team twice and make adjustments.”
Williamson finished with a game-high 35 points off 13-of-17 shooting from the field. He added seven rebounds and four assists in the win.
The 22-year-old is first on the Pelicans in points per game (23.9) and steals (1.3), second in field goal percentage (59.6) and rebounds per game (7.2), and third in assists (4.3).
The Pelicans and Suns will battle again on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans in a matchup that’s sure to draw the interest of NBA fans, especially after Friday night’s incident.