“I love competing against him”: Zion Williamson discusses his duel with Giannis Antetokounmpo after Pelicans sink Bucks

On Thursday night, the New Orleans Pelicans squared off against cross-conference opposition, the Milwaukee Bucks. In a game of fine margins, the Pelicans feasted on the Bucks with a win thanks to Zion Williamson.

After a summer of controversy and numerous criticisms over his on-court performance and physique, Zion Williamson has found his rhythm and the Pelicans’ have been the beneficiary of their star man’s form. Following the game, Zion himself opened up about a star but from the opposite camp. The person in question is none other than the Bucks ace Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Zion Williamson opens up about competing against Giannis Antetokounmpo

After the 100-107 victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks, Zion Williamson expressed his feelings about competing against the “Greek Freak”.

Zion in a post-game interview said, “I thought I attacked the basket. He attacks it with force. He gets to the free-throw line. I think he missed his first few. Then he started knocking them down. He has a high motor. He’s always on the attack. I love competing against him.”

Compete they did as Zion Williamson powered the Pelicans to victory with his 28 points on the night while Giannis almost took the headlines with a 20-point flurry in the 3rd quarter which by the end of the game stopped at 35. It was the 3rd time Giannis scored 20+ in a quarter this season and all three incidentally came in the second half of games.

Talking about a specific incident in the game when Williamson was penalized for a blocking foul on Giannis, the Pelicans forward said, “I think the refs did the best they could with the call. I mean, I fully agree with it but I thought I was there. That might have been my first charge since I was like 12. They took it away from me. That was crazy.”

According to Zion, the refs got the call wrong which should have been a foul against Giannis when Milwaukee’s number 34 drove towards the rim and got checked by him. Despite all the efforts from the 29-year-old forward, Zion Williamson came out with the dub with his authoritative performance.

Zion Williamson explodes in Pelicans’ win over Bucks

The Pelicans vs Bucks at the Smoothie King Center was a proper game of two halves. The hosts came out of the blocks quickly to take a 16-point lead in the first half. In the third quarter, Giannis’ aforementioned burst of 20 points reduced the gap and in the final quarter, the comeback was almost complete with only 7 points separating the teams before the buzzer sounded.

Zion Williamson dropped 28 points along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. His 10 free throw conversations out of 16 and 9/15 from field goals helped the New Orleans side to chip away with vital points. Apart from Zion, CJ McCollum dropped 25 points in the win with Jonas Valanciunas and Trey Murphy III contributing 17 and 15 points respectively.

This game marks the third consecutive game for Zion Williamson where he has scored 28 points or more. The 23-year-old scored 29 against the OKC in a narrow 119-112 loss after a 36-point performance against the Pistons in a 101-114 win. With his contract situation up in the air, these performances will go a long way in his favor.

At this point, it is hard to imagine that the Pelicans will squander their play-off spot with Zion Williamson performing close to his “best player in the league” potential, but the next two games against the Celtics and the Suns will test their championship mettle with the first game against the Cs on March 30.