After winning five of six games, the New Orleans Pelicans have lost four consecutive games and now head into one of their toughest tests of the season. The Pelicans host the Boston Celtics on Friday, bringing the defending champs into Smoothie King Center.

When the teams met, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was just returning from a hamstring injury. Williamson scored 16 points on 5/15 shooting from the field in that game, his lowest point output since his injury.

Zion Williamson has played in just 13 games during the 2024–25 season after missing nearly two months of the campaign with an injury. The New Orleans Pelicans star has been burdened by injuries throughout his career in the NBA since being drafted in 2019, having played in just 197 of a possible 458 games and missing the entire 2021–22 season.

After getting drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019, Zion Williamson was poised to be the league's next big star, following behind the aging Steph Currys and LeBron James' of the world.

If there has been one thing that has been consistent about Zion Williamson during his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, it's missing games due to injuries. As a result, many have lost major hopes from Zion to become the face of the league as he was once expected to be.

Zion Willaimson has played in 13 games this season. Since returning from a hamstring injury, he has played in 7 of 11 games, and in his last five games, he's averaged 26.6 points on 61.5% shooting, nine rebounds,

Zion Williamson may now be back from injury, but he still apparently isn’t seeing eye-to-eye with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray has been impressed with Zion Williamson's performance on the defensive end of the floor.

Pelicans’ superstar Zion Williamson has been one of their lone bright spots this season, especially after his return from injury. Of course, Zion was sidelined for over two months with a hamstring injury, but since returning he has been dominant.

The better he gets on that end, the easier it’ll be for New Orleans to reclaim the defensive identity that’s slipped away during this injury-riddled season. As always, the most important aspect of Williamson’s maturation is consistency and health. The better he is in those two areas, the quicker he can prove his two-way dominance is here to stay.

Zion Williamson (non COVID-illness) is OUT tonight against the Celtics.Source: Twitter @SeanGrandePBP What’s the buzz on Twitter? Kurt Helin @basketballtalk Zion Williamson says