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    Home»NBA»Zion Williamson plays his 100th NBA game, and the Pelicans’ star has been nothing short of dominant
    NBA

    Zion Williamson plays his 100th NBA game, and the Pelicans’ star has been nothing short of dominant

    November 29, 2022No Comments

    Zion Williamson played his 100th career NBA game on Monday night, a New Orleans Pelicans’ 105-101 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to a game-winning and-1 by Williamson in the final minute. His career has been like a lightning bolt. You don’t see him often, but when you do he’s spectacular.

    It’s one of the most dominant 100-game starts in league history and that’s saying a lot, considering that he was drafted in 2019 and he has never appeared in an NBA playoff game.

    But the numbers don’t lie. He has the 10th-most points by any player through 100 career games in NBA history, and the most since Michael Jordan in the mid 80s. Prior to Jordan, none of the other eight on the list have played in over a half century. Williamson is literally doing things that haven’t been done in decades.

    Most Points in First 100 Career Games in NBA History

    Player

    Team

    Points

    Seasons

    Wilt Chamberlain

    Philadelphia Warriors

    3,748

    1959-61

    Walt Bellamy

    Chicago Packers/Zephyrs

    3,122

    1961-63

    Oscar Robertson

    Cincinnati Royals

    3,040

    1960-62

    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

    Milwaukee Bucks

    2,943

    1969-71

    George Mikan

    Minneapolis Lakers

    2,879

    1948-54

    Rick Barry

    Golden State Warriors

    2,832

    1965-67

    Elvin Hayes

    San Diego Rockets 

    2,797

    1968-70

    Michael Jordan

    Chicago Bulls

    2,721

    1984-86

    Elgin Baylor

    Minneapolis Lakers

    2,569

    1958-60

    Zion Williamson

    New Orleans Pelicans

    2,524

    2020-22

    Williamson is the first player in NBA history with 25 ppg on 60 percent shooting from the floor in his first 100 career games. He’s the fourth with those averages in any 100-game span since the 1976-77 NBA-ABA Merger. The last to do this was Shaquille O’Neal. 

    25 PPG on 60% FG in 100-Game Span Since 1976-77 Merger

    Player

    Team 

    Seasons

    Zion Williamson

    Pelicans

    2020-22

    Shaquille O’Neal

    Magic

    1993-94

    Charles Barkley

    76ers

    1989-91

    Kevin McHale

    Celtics

    1986-88

    Williamson’s average Game Score of 20.0 in his career is the fourth-best by any player through 100 career games, since Game Score numbers became available in the late 1970s. Game Score measures a player’s productivity based on the weighting of various box score statistics. 10 is an average game while 40 is outstanding, so if Zion’s average game is 20, that’s pretty impressive. More impressive is the company he’s behind. David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal.

    Highest Avg Game Score in First 100 Career Games

    Player

    Team

    Game Score

    Seasons

    David Robinson

    Spurs

    22.5

    1989-90

    Michael Jordan

    Bulls

    21.5

    1984-86

    Shaquille O’Neal

    Magic

    20.0

    1993-94

    Zion Williamson

    Pelicans

    20.0

    2020-22

    Williamson has lived up to the hype as a generational talent with unparalleled skills in a 6-foot-6, 280-pound body, doing virtually all his damage in the paint or at the charity stripe, with 97 percent of his points coming from one of those two spots. He’s dominating in each area at a historic pace.

    His paint scoring is the best the league has seen since O’Neal. Williamson averaged 20.3 points in the paint per game in 2020-21, the highest in a season since O’Neal in 1999-00, the season he led the league in scoring with 29.7 ppg.

    Williamson has scored at least 20 points in the paint 50 times in his career, or exactly half of his games. The only player to do this more since Willamson entered the league is Giannis Antetokoumpo, who has done it 80 times, though in only 39 percent of his games.

    Most Games with 20 Paint Points Since 2019-20

    Player

    Team

    Games

    Giannis Antetokounmpo

    Bucks

    80

    Zion Williamson

    Pelicans

    50

    Nikola Jokic

    Nuggets

    45

    Ja Morant

    Grizzlies

    37

    As you can imagine, with all the time spent inside, he’s earned his fair share of trips to the line. Williamson’s 803 career free throw attempts are the sixth-most by any player through 100 career games in the last 40 seasons behind David Robinson (998), Shaquille O’Neal (906), Michael Jordan (871), Alonzo Mourning (865) and Blake Griffin (829).

    Zion’s best

    Williamson’s best games included a 39-point game against the Nuggets, a 13-14 shooting night (93%) against the Mavericks and four threes made in his NBA debut against the Spurs.

    Best Career Games

    Category

    Stat

    Date

    Opponent

    Game number

    Points

    39

    3/26/21

    vs DEN 

    66

    Rebounds

    15

    4/9/21

    vs PHI

    71

    Off Rebounds

    8

    2/27/21

    at SAS

    56

    PITP

    32

    4/11/21

    at CLE

    72

    FG pct

    93.3 percent

    2/12/21

    at DAL

    48

    3-pt FG

    4

    1/22/20

    vs SAS

    1

    FTM

    13

    2/25/20

    at LAL

    13

    Steals

    5

    2/27/21

    vs SAS

    56

    Minutes

    41:54

    5/1/21

    at MIN

    83

    Game score

    36.4

    3/26/21

    vs DEN

    66

    Assists

    8 ** (4 times)

    11/28/22

    vs OKC

    100

    Blocks

    3 ** (3 times)

    11/28/22

    vs OKC

    100

    Something’s missing

    While his inside scoring presence is among the best the league has seen this century, it’ll eventually become a footnote if Williamson continues to be slowed down by injuries. 

    He’s missed 146 games in his career, mostly due to a torn meniscus in his rookie year and a Jones fracture in his right foot last season. It’s the third-most games missed at the time of his team’s 100th game following being drafted as a No. 1 overall pick, behind David Robinson (military service) and Greg Oden (knee injuries). 

    Most Games Missed at Time of 100th Career Game – No. 1 Overall Pick in Modern Draft Era (Since 1966)

    Player Team Games Missed Seasons

    Player

    Team

    Games missed

    Seasons

    Greg Oden

    Trail Blazers

    440

    2007-13

    David Robinson

    Spurs

    164

    1987-90

    Zion Williamson

    Pelicans

    146

    2019-22

    In his best season to date, 2020-21, Williamson became the first player to rank top 10 in the NBA in scoring and field goal percentage but miss the playoffs since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992-93. Things are looking up in New Orleans though. The Pelicans have one of the most prolific, young scorers in NBA history and are 4 games over .500 for the first time with Williamson, who the team signed with a rookie max extension this offseason and have reinforcements coming. The Pelicans can swap first-round picks with the Lakers in 2023, when French teenage phenom Victor Wembanyama is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick. You never know, lightning could strike twice.



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