CHICAGO — The Zion Williamson show is officially back. Even if it was just for a preseason viewing. The New Orleans Pelicans forward returned to the court Tuesday night, scoring 13 points in a 15-minute performance at the United Center in a 129-125 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Earlier on Tuesday, Williamson told ESPN his mindset was to treat this like just another preseason game, but he admitted it was hard to ignore the messages blowing up his phone and appearing on social media about the year-plus he missed.
Williamson showed flashes of his old self during the contest. He drove baseline on Bulls forward Patrick Williams for a slam.
He had what some on the Pelicans bench thought should have been a chase-down block just a minute earlier in the first quarter on Williams that was ruled goaltending.