Zion Williamson's all-around performance leads New Orleans Pelicans past Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers were short-handed in this game once again, as Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid missed another matchup. Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans took advantage, winning 103-95 at Wells Fargo Center.

The Pels have quietly been playing great basketball, holding onto a top 5 seed and avoiding the play-in tournament at the moment. The big 3 of Zion, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum provides a huge scoring punch and the role players around them all fit nicely.

Big Z had a monster performance tonight, finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Ingram provided 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while Naji Marshall scored 19 off the bench. McCollum ended with just 10 points on 36% shooting.

Tobias Harris led the 76ers with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Kelly soubrette scored 20 points as well while Paul Reed came off the bench and recorded 17 points with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

New Orleans improves to 38-25 with this win and sit at the 5th seed in the West. They are only 3 games behind the Clippers for the 4th seed so the Pelicans can still host a round 1 playoff matchup if everything falls into place. They are playing consistent basketball, going 7-3 over their last 10 games and they’ll look to continue this momentum on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia drops to 35-28 with this loss, falling to the 7th seed in the East. It’s a tight race for the last few playoff spots in this conference so every game matters. The 76ers will look to pick up some wins while their stars are out but the main focus is to hope that Embiid and Maxey can return soon. This team is struggling at the moment, going 3-7 over their last 10 games but they’ll look to bounce back on Sunday against the New York Knicks.