NEW ORLEANS — It was already the Zion Williamson Show going into the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans star decided to put an exclamation point on his most complete performance of the season.

After leading Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors by as much as 31 points in the third quarter, New Orleans’ momentum gradually slipped away. The lead dropped to 11 with five minutes remaining.

新奥尔良——第四节已经是锡安·威廉姆森的表演时刻，但这位鹈鹕球星决定在他本赛季最完整的表现上加上感叹号。

在周三对阵多伦多猛龙队的比赛中，在第三节领先多达 31 分后，新奥尔良的势头逐渐消散。比赛还剩 5 分钟时，领先优势只有 11 分。

Then, Zion threw on his Superman cape.

He started by swatting a Pascal Siakam shot at the rim that would’ve cut the Pelicans’ lead to single digits. He followed it up by driving around two defenders and soaring past another as he threw down a ferocious double-clutch dunk. A few seconds later, he jumped in front of an errant Toronto pass and casually drove down the court for a layup that all but put the game away.

然后，锡安穿上了他的超人斗篷。

他先是盖掉帕斯卡-西亚卡姆在篮下的一记投篮，这本可以将分差拉进到个位数。然后他紧随其后，绕过两名防守队员，并在篮下凶猛的隔扣另一名防守队员。几秒钟后，他在多伦多一次错误的传球后跑了起来，快攻上篮得分，几乎结束了比赛。

Once the Raptors finally called a timeout, Williamson waved his arms to the Smoothie King Center crowd, acknowledging what may have been the loudest roar of the season. It was a celebration for the incredible 26-second sequence that very few players can emulate.

But it was also an appreciation of something bigger. The real Zion Williamson is finally back, and he’s just as terrifying as we anticipated.

“I told him tonight in the locker room that he was a monster. He carried us. He continued to make the right plays over and over again,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “He was flying around on both ends of the floor … It’s just impressive. Impressive to see.”

猛龙队最终宣布暂停后，威廉姆森向球馆的球迷挥舞着手臂，我承认这可能是本赛季最响亮的欢呼。这是对极少数球员能做出的令人难以置信的 26 秒进攻。

但这也证明了。真正的锡安威廉姆森终于回来了，他和我们预期的一样可怕。

“今晚我在更衣室里告诉他，他是个怪物。他带着我们前进。他继续一次又一次地打出正确的比赛，”鹈鹕队教练威利格林说。“他在球场两端飞来飞去……令人印象深刻。令人印象深刻。”

By the end of the night, Williamson accumulated 33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks in a wire-to-wire 126-108 victory. This came one game after he put up 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in Monday’s win against Oklahoma City.

He made sure the Raptors felt his presence every minute he was on the floor. Toronto is known for having long, disruptive defenders at every position, but none of them could match Zion’s physicality and explosiveness.

The moment was even more significant because it was the second straight New Orleans victory without Brandon Ingram (toe injury) and CJ McCollum (reconditioning after return from health and safety protocols). With his running mates out, Williamson knew he had to do more than just put up big numbers. He had to lead, just as he did against Oklahoma City on Monday.

截至当晚比赛结束，威廉姆森得到 33 分、10 个篮板、5 次助攻、4 次抢断和 2 次盖帽，以 126-108 的比分带队获胜。在上一场战胜俄克拉荷马雷霆的比赛中拿下 23 分、8 个篮板和 8 次助攻。

他确保猛龙队在他上场的每一分钟都能感受到他的存在。多伦多以在每个位置都有高且具有破坏性的防守者而闻名，但他们中没有一个能与锡安的身体素质和爆发力相提并论。

这一刻更为重要，因为这是新奥尔良在没有布兰登英格拉姆（脚趾受伤）和CJ 麦科勒姆（从健康和安全协议返回后进行康复）的情况下连续第二场胜利。随着队友的缺席，威廉姆森知道他必须做的不仅仅是拿出好数据。他必须赢球，就像他在周一对阵俄克拉荷马城时所做的那样。

He did just that on Wednesday against a higher quality opponent in the Raptors. Even as Williamson controlled the game on offense, his defensive energy is what most inspired his teammates. He got a few crazy blocks. He played in the passing lanes. He crashed the boards. He showed he was willing to do whatever it took to win. It was easily the best two-way game he’s had this season, and it’s in the conversation for the most well-rounded game he’s ever played as a pro.

Naturally, his teammates followed his example.

“He was a monster today. It was probably one of his best all-around games that I’ve seen,” said Pelicans forward Trey Murphy. “I’m super proud of him and the work that he’s put in. I know you guys criticize him a lot on his defense. Hopefully, he got more than a B+ today.”

他在周三对阵猛龙队这种更高质量的对手时做到了这一点。尽管威廉姆森在进攻端控制了比赛，但他的防守端的能量才是最能激励队友的。他快速地补防。他抢断对手地传球。他扑倒救球。他表明他愿意不惜一切代价赢得胜利。这很容易成为他本赛季攻防两端最好的比赛，而且人们都在谈论他作为职业球员打过的最全面的比赛。

自然地，他的队友也被他鼓舞。

“他今天是个怪物。这可能是我见过的他最好的全能比赛之一，”鹈鹕队前锋特雷墨菲说。“我为他和他所做的工作感到非常自豪。我知道你们在他的防守上批评了他很多。希望他今天得到的不仅仅是 B+。”

The criticism was never about Williamson being an incapable defender, or even that he would always be a consistent liability that opponents can always target. The main issue that had to be addressed was his mindset. So many of his defensive issues could be easily remedied if he just brought consistent energy and mental focus on defense. Wednesday night proved that Williamson has everything it takes to be a great defender when he’s locked in and bringing the same fire on that end as he does when the ball is in his hands.

Remember when teams were targeting Williamson on switches so they could attack him one-on-one? He wasn’t letting that happen against Toronto.

批评从来都不是关于威廉姆森是一个无能的防守者，或者甚至是他永远是对手可以进攻的点。必须解决的主要问题是他的心态。如果他将持续的精力和精神集中在防守上，那么他的许多防守问题都可以轻松解决。周三晚上证明，威廉姆森拥有成为一名伟大防守者所需的一切，当他认真时，他在防守端的统治力会和他在 进攻端一样。

还记得当对手瞄准威廉姆森时，他们可以一对一点名他吗？他没有让这种情况发生在对多伦多的比赛中。

Remember when he wouldn’t consistently make the second or third effort off the ball to help his teammates and get back out to shooters? He was flying around all over the place against the Raptors.

还记得他什么时候连续做出第二次或第三次来帮助队友协防并补防射手吗？他在猛龙队的比赛中到处飞来飞去。

Remember when he’d get caught out of position from time to time because he was jogging back on defense? He was more like a man possessed on Wednesday.

还记得他不时因为在防守中慢跑而失去位置吗？他更像是一个在星期三着了魔的人。

These are basic principles. But when exceptional players do basic things consistently, they can have an outsized effect on the rest of the team. That’s precisely what Williamson did on Wednesday.

这些是基本原则。但是，当优秀的球员始终如一地做他该做的事情时，他们会对团队的其他成员产生巨大的影响。这正是威廉姆森周三所做的。

“I felt like I was moving my feet very well,” Williamson said. … “I feel like collectively, as a group, we just played very well on defense.”

“He did it on both ends,” Green added. “We know his athleticism offensively is impressive. But to get some of those blocks, to grab the rebound and take it full court, to get to the basket and get to the foul line. Those are things that great players do.”

“我觉得我的脚移动得很好，”威廉姆森说。……“我觉得作为一个整体，我们在防守端的表现非常出色。”

“他在攻防两端都做到了，”格林补充道。“我们知道他在进攻端的运动能力令人印象深刻。但是要盖到一些帽，抢下篮板并全场进攻，造对手犯规并上罚球线。这些都是伟大球员所做的事情。”

With Ingram and McCollum sidelined the last two games, Williamson has also taken on a more prominent offensive playmaking role. Williamson has to fight through double teams no matter who’s in the lineup with him, but he also knows they’ll come at an even higher frequency when he doesn’t have Ingram and McCollum to keep defenses honest. His court vision has always been underrated, and it’s continued to improve as he’s played more games.

Without his two co-stars, Zion has 13 assists over the last two games. He’s playing fast to make it tougher for teams to double him, but he’s not rushing through his progressions. He’s remaining patient with his reads, but he’s not allowing the offense to stagnate.

随着英格拉姆和麦科勒姆在过去两场比赛中缺阵，威廉姆森也承担了更重要的进攻组织角色。威廉姆森无论谁和他在场上，都会在包夹后传球为队友创造机会。他的球场视野一直被低估，而且随着他打的比赛越来越多，他的视野也在不断提高。

在没有他的两位搭档的情况下，锡安在过去两场比赛中有 13 次助攻。他打得很快，让对手更难包夹他，但他并没有匆忙完成自己的进步。他对自己的比赛阅读保持耐心，但他不会让进攻停滞不前。

Williamson has always taken pride in how his stepfather, Lee Anderson, raised him to be a point guard since childhood. He’s displayed the best versions of “Point Zion” over the last two games.

That’s unlocked some new options for the Pelicans’ offense. With so many pieces shuffling in and out of the lineup, finding the right approach on offense that uplifts everyone has been an ongoing process for Green and his coaching staff. At times, the product has leaned more heavily towards last year’s offense, with Ingram and McCollum at the forefront. In other moments, Williamson has been allowed to flourish fully.

威廉姆森一直为他的继父李安德森从小培养他成为一名控球后卫而感到自豪。在过去的两场比赛中，他展示了“Point Zion”的最佳版本。

这为鹈鹕的进攻打开了一些新的选择。有这么多球员在阵容中进进出出，找到正确的进攻方式来提升每个人一直是格林和他的教练组的目标。有时，去年球队的进攻更倾向于英格拉姆和麦科勒姆组织。在其他时候，威廉姆森得到了充分的发挥。

These past two games have illustrated that this team is most dangerous when Williamson is given freedom to control the ball from the perimeter and attack opponents. It keeps him heavily involved, forces defenses to collapse on him and creates easy looks for everyone else on the court. While Ingram and McCollum are outstanding offensive talents, no one’s quite like Zion. The effect he has on defenses and the amount of help they have to send to slow him down is almost laughable at times.

Until Green is able to use a more consistent rotation, there will be some hiccups as New Orleans tries to find its groove. But when Williamson is playing like this, the smartest thing any coach could do is get out of his way and let him cook.

过去的两场比赛已经说明，当威廉姆森被赋予在外线控制球并攻击对手的自由时，这支球队是最危险的。这让他全身心投入，迫使防守者在他身上崩溃，并为球场上的其他人创造轻松得分的机会。尽管英格拉姆和麦科勒姆都是出色的进攻天才，但没有人能像锡安那样。他对防守的影响以及对手为减慢他的速度所提供的协防有时几乎是可笑的。

在格林确定轮换之前，鹈鹕找到最佳状态时会出现一些小问题。但是当威廉姆森这样打球时，任何教练都能做的最聪明的事情就是让他打，让他为队友喂饼。

“When you have players like BI and CJ out, you’ve got to pick up where they affect the game,” Williamson said. “I just want to thank Coach (Green) for trusting me to be myself, and the rest of the coaching staff and my teammates. If they don’t trust me, it may look a little different for me.”

Wednesday’s victory improved the Pelicans’ record to 13-8. Despite the constant changes to the lineup and injuries to various pieces of the rotation, New Orleans is five games over .500 for the first time since 2017-18. That figures speak to the job Green has done to establish a winning culture within the organization and his team’s willingness to bring the fight every time the players step on the floor.

“当像 BI 和 CJ 这样的球员缺阵时，你必须找出他们影响比赛的地方，”威廉姆森说。“我只想感谢教练（格林）信任我，以及其他教练组和我的队友。如果他们不信任我，对我来说可能会有点不同。”

周三的胜利将鹈鹕队的战绩提高到 13-8。尽管阵容不断变化，轮换阵容的各个位置都有受伤球员，但新奥尔良自 2017-18 赛季以来战绩首次超过超过五成。这些数字证明了格林以及他的团队在球队内建立胜利文化所做的工作。

It also helps to have so much talent spread throughout the roster. The Pelicans’ depth has proven to be just as potent as many anticipated coming into the year, and it will continue to grow as young players like Murphy and rookie Dyson Daniels shine.

It’s also one of the biggest luxuries for Williamson’s own development. He hasn’t quite approached his pre-injury self until recently, having struggled to find a consistent groove within the offense when everyone is healthy. With so many Pelicans players suffering injuries, Williamson hasn’t received as much time to reacclimate and find chemistry with his new teammates.

这也有助于在整合球队阵容中的人才。鹈鹕队的深度已被证明与许多人对今年的预期一样强大，并且随着墨菲和新秀戴森丹尼尔斯等年轻球员的闪耀，它会继续增长。

这也是威廉姆森自身发展的最大帮助之一。直到最近他才完全恢复到受伤前的状态，在每个人都健康的情况下努力在进攻中找到一个稳定的状态。由于这么多鹈鹕球员受伤，威廉姆森没有足够的时间重新适应环境并与新队友产生化学反应。

Still, none of those obstacles have stopped this team from grabbing sole possession of the No. 3 spot in the West, two games behind the top-seeded Phoenix Suns, with a +5.9 net rating that’s good for fourth in the NBA. The Pelicans have been a good team through the first 21 games of the season, even though they’ve had every excuse to stumble out the gates like they’ve done so many times over the past decade.

If Zion is also starting to kick it into fifth gear, this team could become even more intimidating. It has the depth, camaraderie and versatility. Most importantly, the Pelicans have the one guy no one has an answer for when he’s playing the way he did Wednesday.

“We’ve got a lot of depth on this team. We are a special team,” Williamson said. “As the season goes on, the world will get to see that. We’ll learn from each other. We’ll figure it out.”

尽管如此，这些障碍都没有阻止这支球队独占西部第三的位置，落后第一的菲尼克斯太阳队两场比赛，净胜分为 +5.9，在NBA排名第四。在本赛季的前 21 场比赛中，鹈鹕队一直是一支优秀的球队，尽管他们有充分的理由像过去十年中多次那样跌跌撞撞地跌出季后赛。

如果锡安也开始持续进化，这支球队可能会变得更加令人生畏。它具有深度、友情和多功能性。最重要的是，鹈鹕队又拥有一个进攻核心，当他像周三那样打球时。

“我们对这支球队有很深的了解。我们是一个特殊的团队，”威廉姆森说。“随着赛季的进行，全世界都会看到这一点。我们会互相学习。我们会想办法的。”