The Los Angeles Lakers are favored to emerge out of the play-in on Tuesday. The inclination comes partly because of James’ global fandom and brims through their continued dominating stints against the Pelicans. With that, alongside fans, Stephen A. Smith allows little to no breathing room for the Pelicans too. In doing so, the analyst bashes Zion Williamson for his continuous disappointing performances against LeBron James. “Every time he sees LeBron James it’s like panic sets in,” Smith claims.

After handing Williamson his due credit for elevating his game this season, Smith counts his battles against LA, “It’s like LeBron hypnotizes him or something. And the brother is just paralyzed. He can’t do anything.” However, on the other side, Draymond Green, who’s set in for his own play-in battle, believes that the game could give a contrasting result. Green believes that the Pelicans’ taxing road trip right before Sunday’s game had a lot to chime in on their 108-124 loss.

“Going back home for a game is always tough. When you return home for 1 game, or the first game returning home from a trip,” Green tries to emphasize the odds against Zion Williamson and the squad.“So I don’t think the Pelicans that you saw Sunday’s game is the Pelicans you’re gonna see tomorrow’s game,” Green cited. However, despite his claims, he believes the purple and gold will emerge victorious.

Regardless, for the Pels to have a chance, Green suggests Zion Williamson step up since the roster mostly revolves around him. Moreover, for the remaining crew, Green advises them to capitalize on the Lakers’ league-bottom rank of defending the three. If New Orleans manages to couple his two pieces of advice, Dray believes the Pels could have a shot.

Zion Williamson vs LeBron James and Co. this season

The New Orleans are 1-3 against the Lakers this season, losing a crucial In-Season Tournament game in the process. Moreover, James has managed to continuously target Zion, atleast in their 1st and last battles of the season if not the entire 4-game stretch.

However, despite his off nights, the athletic forward still manages to average 20.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists this season against the Lakers. In hindsight, it does not fall much behind his season tally of 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

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Moreover, he has converted 57.7% of his shots against James’ LA squad, compared to the 57% he holds the season. Then how is Zion underperforming against James?

One of the biggest areas is the big-time moments. In the In-Season semi-final, Zion shied away from the crunch time moments that needed him to bulldoze through and enable his squad for success. The repeated pattern of absence is part of the reason Zion’s efficiency remains high against LA. “I wasn’t where I needed to be,” Zion dissected his performance after the recent loss. Moreover, he even blamed himself of being “passive” on the floor.

The latter factor is Zion’s willingness to step up, as he only attempts 12 shots per game against LA while taking at least 15 shots per game across the 70 games this season. Zion has waited 4 years for his first ever playoff game. Now, if he fails to show up again vs LeBron’s crew, his post-season experience will delay onto a deciding game against the winner of Warriors vs Kings matchup.