Day One of the Play-in Tournament is done. The Los Angeles Lakers faced the New Orleans Pelicans for the 7th seed in the Western Conference. LeBron James and Co. won the game by 110-106. This year the Western Conference is considered to be one of the most competitive in NBA history. With such a high-stakes game, Shaq had his eye on one player and one player only. No, it was not Lebron but the young Pelicans forward.

Before the game, Shaquille O’Neal wanted to see if Zion Williamson was capable of translating his regular season form to the Play-in. Williamson just did what Shaq asked him to do and made everybody believe that he was ready for the big stage. But unfortunately, he couldn’t translate it to a win. More importantly, he suffered a leg injury with just 3:13 left in the 4th Quarter with the scores tied at 95. Thus he couldn’t take part for the rest of the game.

The NBA on TNT YouTube channel uploaded the video of Inside the NBA show, where Shaq and Co. discussed his performance and appreciated the 23-year-old forward. They think despite the injury Zion will have to pull through against the Kings for the final playoff spot. Charles Barkley was not sure if the Pelicans star would play the next game due to the nature of his injury. Shaq was adamant and suggested Icy Hot.

Chuck tried explaining how a hamstring is one of the worst injuries for any player. Shaq had a two-word reply ready which sent Barkley in splits. O’Neal repeated Icy Hot with a lot more poise. And Sir Charles couldn’t keep it in and laughed at the suggestion. This was Zion Williamson’s first play-in game as he was injured in earlier seasons. With his performance, he put the world on notice.

Zion Williamson impresses Shaq and others

Before the game, The Big Diesel explained how he wanted more quality from the forward. “This is the 187th game, only one time he has hit 40 points. My question is, ‘Can you turn it up?’. Comparing how LeBron and Anthony Davis have already done it and the pressure is on Williamson to deliver. After the game, Shaq said, “I was very impressed. I hate to see him go down like that. But you know, now now that we see what he can do in order to be a great player, he has to continue this and go to the next step.”

He was the top scorer of the game with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Getting little help from his team as Brandon Ingram was second in the scoring charts for his team with 11 points. LeBron was the top scorer for the Lakers with 23 points and had encouraging words for Zion’s performance. He said, ” Tonight was just a small microcosm of how great he can be… He’s a star.”

The Kings await Zion Williamson and Co with the final spot on the line. The winner of the game will play the number 1 seed the OKC Thunder. Do you think the Pelicans will be able to beat the Kings without Williamson if he is out of the game?