Zion Williamson’s injury is bad news for the Pelicans ahead of their play-in tournament match-up against the Kings on Friday night.
After opening as a two-point favorite following Sacramento’s win over the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans fell to a 1.5-point underdog (FanDuel Sportsbook) after the announcement that Williamson would miss Friday’s game, putting the Kings in the driver’s seat to grab the West’s eighth and final playoff spot.
The Pelicans’ NBA and conference title odds also took a hit.
They’re now +5000 to win the West, which are the second-worst odds in the conference ahead of only the Kings (+5500) and +12000 to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy, beating out just the Magic (+16000), Bulls (+100000) and Hawks (+100000) at FanDuel.
Williamson left Tuesday’s eventual loss to the Lakers with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter after dropping 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds with what appeared to be a leg injury.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that Williamson had suffered a left hamstring strain and would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Williamson is coming off a strong regular season in which he averaged 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and five assists on 57 percent shooting.
Crucially, the injury-prone former No. 1 overall pick played in a career-high 70 games, never missing more than one game at a time.
If Pelicans fans are struggling to find any solace, they can point to their utter dominance over the Kings this season.
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New Orleans went 5-0 against Sacramento during the regular season, outscoring them by an average of 19.2 points per game.
With Williamson sidelined on Jan. 7 in Sacramento, the Pelicans walloped the Kings 133-100.
The winner of Friday’s game will face against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA playoffs.