Zion showed in 4th why he's best player, best chance for title

There's a standard he's held to on the court that's absolutely insane.

Because he keeps meeting it.

The 3 pointers added up and spacing got significantly better throughout the game. Zion was able to take advantage.

Its going to take him at least 10-15 games to fully be himself and work his way into the flow of the game, but he already has looked great in spurts

He looked rusty at times and then at other times he looked like an unstoppable force. Overall, I liked what I saw.

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In like the last 15 games before he got injured, he was averaging 30/7.5/5 on 63% FG shooting. That's All Star shite right there.

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That's All NBA Team stuff

I don't even think it takes him 15 games to get going really well. Give him 5-10 and he's going to be a force.

It will take them some time to figure out the offense. In the first half, there was a five possession streak where Zion just sat in the corner and didn't touch the ball. I think that caused him to force a few things when he did get it.

In the second half, he did do a better job of hitting the offensive glass and that seemed to get himself going. In the fourth quarter, they completely changed how they were using him. He was operating in the high post with the other four players spacing. It worked wonderfully. It was great to watch.

Defensively, he was a half step late on two steals that would have been dunks and one monster block in the fourth quarter. That timing should improve after a few games.

In December of last year, Zion had the Pels leading the West and was making his case for All Pro which would've activated that $231M contract accelerator. Then Z's chronic vaginitis flared up and the team crumbled. As Zion goes, so goes the Pels.

Fingers-crossed for 60+ games of healthy Zion appearances and a sure Western Conference title. I'd say break a leg, but ya boi might take it literally.

Inadvertently, I think unleashing Zion as our 4th quarter closer on a worn down team may be the most optimal way to use Zion (if his conditioning permits this) and close out some wins.

If this was on purpose, great job Willy.

He'll get there. He usually start slow out of the gates. It's going to take 15-20 games before the monster MVP Zion wakes up.

Not saying you’re wrong, but he was blowing by his primary defender very easily in the 1st quarter. That guy wasn’t blocking his shot. It was always the help defender, who happens to be the defensive player of the year and best shot blocker in the NBA. No other team has that. With that being said, Zion could still lose a few pounds, but his quickness and lift are not at all a problem for him.

He doesn't need to be ~300 lbs to protect himself in the paint, which he is at right now (he was 285 lbs at Duke for reference ). It hasn't slowed his game down much but playing at that weight is an injury waiting to happen. Already proven.