Pelicans’ Williamson Injures Hip, Ingram Hurts Head In Loss To Jazz

Oft-injured Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson is injured yet again. New Orleans has announced (via Twitter) that the 6’8″ forward suffered a posterior hip contusion near the end of New Orleans’s 122-121 overtime loss to the Jazz on Sunday.

The severity of the ailment, which could indicate a recovery timeline, has not been revealed as of yet. It’s unclear whether Williamson will be able to play through it. Across his first two games this season, the former first overall pick had been averaging 20.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG and 2.5 SPG for the Pelicans.

New Orleans’ other star forward, Brandon Ingram, also departed the contest early after the club determined that he had incurred concussion-like symptoms from a head injury, reports Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Ingram bumped into Pelicans reserve small forward Naji Marshall while trying to make a steal. Ingram had averaged 28.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 6.0 APG through his first two complete contests. He played just 11 minutes against the Jazz before exiting the game.

New Orleans currently sports a 2-1 record on the young 2022/23 NBA season. That said, should either Williamson or Ingram be sidelined for an extended duration, the club may need to lean on shooting guard CJ McCollum for further scoring punch, and could be looking for further minutes from reserves Marshall, Trey Murphy III, and Larry Nance Jr. if it needs to compensate for the absence of Williamson and/or Ingram.

Last year, an upstart Pelicans team pushed the Suns to a hotly-contested six-game first round Western Conference playoff series. With Williamson back in the fold to start the season, the club is hoping to build on that result this year.

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