Zion Williamson dominates the paint again and no one seems to be stopping him: Complete control in victory over San Antonio Spurs

sion Williamson broke into season 2022-2023 like he had a big question mark over his head. An entire year out with a right leg injury seemed to confirm the negative omens they had with the Duke product. Very physical, very dominant, but also very fragile. A situation that tormented him from his first steps in High School and which was a consequence of his overwhelming dominance wherever he played.

Passed the first quarter of the course Zion pointed that not only is he in a state identical to that which he had before your injurybut whatand his game is even richer. Which is based on how nimble it is now, a result of the intense prep work that went into it out of seasonwhich allows him to be faster without losing an iota of his striking power.

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All of this translates to Williamson He walks away from shows to take his hat off in attack. Unsupported, the Pelicans’ star man maxes out his resources to the best of his ability, until they’re defenseless. And the clearest example of this control and self-knowledge was given in the triumph over him San Antonio Spurs (129-110) where the belt was his alone.

From 32 points scored in this game 28 came in the paint, or the same, he barely added 4 more field goals (4 of 8), for a 14 of 16 final streak in the restricted area.

Zion connected his 12 attempts at the rim and 2 of his 4 shots in the paint the rest of the way. Overwhelming dominance of a player who can’t find an opponent to tackle him when he puts the ball on the ground.

The shooting card leaves no room for doubt:

Sion is developing his game and technique to the point where he can beat any record. If opponents close in on him, he quickly finds the gap:

And if he gets half-advantage, he better get out of his way:

Only Giannis Antetokounmpo in MVP mode shoots and scores more (18.6 ppg) in the paint than the Pelicans star, who tries to 14.5 pitches average accurately 56.8% and 17.4 goals on average.

With that performance against Spurs, Zion Williamson equaled the most goals in the restricted area this season, joining the aforementioned Giannis and Jakob Poultle as the only others capable of doing the same. Unlike those two, the youngster from South Carolina did it inside 27 minutes of play, something unheard of by Hassan Whiteside in 2019.

Little by little, Williamson is getting closer to the version of the player he was in April 2021, except he’s more mature, lighter and stronger. And the NBA probably still has no answer to this unique specimen.

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