NEW ORLEANS – Zion Williamson vs. RJ Barrett. Eventually.
Williamson threw in 30 points on Monday, making 13 of 21 shots, grabbing six shots with four shots and tearing the Kings up in the Big Easy.
Meanwhile, Barrett scored a point in the Garden, missing his first eight shots and finishing with seven points.
The divergent points nights were not representative of the gap between Williamson and Barrett this season.
While Williamson is still the top talent and already a superstar, his former Duke bestie has now narrowed the gap.
Last season, the 6-7 Williamson, despite missing a large portion of the season with knee problems, finished third in the Rookie of the Year poll. Barrett was not even voted in either of the two All-Rookie teams.
Wednesday at the Smoothie King Center, the Knicks and Barrett Williamson will tackle for the first time in a regular season game.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle recently said that “watching him is like a breathtaking experience” – as if Shaquille O’Neal had the skills.
“It’s probably a good word to describe him – unique,” Tom Thibodeau said before the Pelicans’ game. ‘It’s unusual because it has power and speed. And usually if you have the power, you do not have the speed, or if you have the speed, you do not have the power, and he has both. Very skilled, puts a lot of pressure on you, dynamic game maker. ”
Williamson, the first pick in the 2019 draft, was injured last season for the Knicks’ preseason game and also missed the garden game for the regular season. Their second game in April last year for New Orleans was canceled by the pandemic.
Williamson faced the Knicks in a summer league game in Las Vegas, but injured his knee and back after nine minutes when he came in too heavy.
While Thibodeau gave Williamson his real prize, the Knicks coach mentions that Barrett earns more than merit than the third choice in the draft.
“I love the man we got, I know that,” Thibodeau said. ‘RJ’s had a great season for us. He is great to be with, a great teammate, great to coach. He got better every day, give you everything he has, put the team first – you can ask for nothing more than that. And I think he has a big headache. ‘
Slightly slimmer, more in attack mode and an elite finish, Williamson has reached the All-Star Game this season. The 20-year-old is with 26.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 62 percent. He still does not take many 3s, but makes 36 percent of them.
Maybe Barrett is next after drastically improving his three-point shooting (37.8 percent), free-shooting (73.5 percent) and decision-making. Averaging 17.4 points, Barrett still remains a burden when he goes to the ring with clever finishes.
The two Duke Southpaw alpha men may not match much on Wednesday, as Williamson plays power forward. But it will be nice to see how it goes mano and mano.
Barrett was not made available for comment after Monday’s win over the Lakers, and the Knicks did not train again on Tuesday.
After the victory in Memphis on Friday, Barrett was asked about the comparisons between him, Zion and Ja Morant, second place.
“My game speaks for itself,” Barrett said. “I mean, you can look at our numbers and look at the success of our team. It does not really matter. As long as I keep getting better as a player, I will be happy. ”
Julius Randle is likely to win the Zion match if he faces his former team. Williamson brings the ball to the court, so it will be two elite forwards squaring each other.
“He’s an excellent player – incredible,” Randle said of Williamson. ‘How he can get on the track and finish and do a lot of things. He’s definitely a tough match, but I’ll be ready for that. ”
Williamson also did not speak after the Pelicans ‘victory on Monday, but said of Barrett last season:’ He did well. He’s a rookie and coming to a city like New York, I think he did well. For a rookie to come in and treat New York the way he is, he did well. ”
Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy is still looking for Williamson to become a more consistent defender and decision maker. But he feels his three-point shooting will only be good.
Although it is a football town, Williamson has at least made the Pelicans (25-29) relevant again, even though they are struggling this season, in 11th place and they are fighting to reach the play-off tournament at number 10.
“It’s always going to be a Saints town,” Knicks Guard and former Pelican Elfrid Payton were born in New Orleans. ‘But I think people there love the Pelicans. They always did. Before Zion, they loved the Pelicans. Hopefully Zion will play the rest of his career there. If he does not, they will still like the Pelicans. ‘