Zion Williamson Dazzles NBA Fans, Suffers Injury in Pelicans' Play-In Loss to Lakers

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson producedd the best game of his NBA career on Tuesday night, posting 40 points on 17-of-27 shooting, 11 rebounds and five assists in the play-in tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Unfortunately, Williamson suffered a late injury that forced him to the locker room, and the Lakers took control down the stretch en route to a 110-106 win.

With 3:19 remaining, Williamson hit a floater over Lakers big man Anthony Davis to tie this game at 95. However, Williamson appeared to land awkwardly after the shot.

Williamson left the game soon afterward, slamming a towel in frustration before walking back to the locker room. He did not return.

After the game, Pels head coach Willie Green told reporters that Williamson suffered left leg soreness and would get imaging done Wednesday.

Obviously, this was a devastating blow. No other Pelican made more than five field goals or scored more than 12 points, but Williamson kept his team in this against a fully healthy Lakers team with Davis, LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell leading the way.

It more or less came down to Williamson starting a game of bully ball against the Lakers and him beating L.A. at it for four quarters.

Thanks largely to Williamson, the Pels finished with 62 points in the paint to the Lakers' 36. Also thanks largely to Zion, New Orleans overcame a 18-point third quarter deficit to tie this game late.

However, the Pelicans couldn't hang with the Lakers following Williamson's departure. Russell delivered the big blow, hitting a three with 51 seconds left to put L.A. up 104-100.

The Lakers hit their free throws down the stretch for the win.

Many people, including Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, expressed their admiration of Williamson's tremendous night.

Many others, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, noted their disappointment or sadness after seeing Williamson get hurt and being unable to finish this game.

Now the question is whether Williamson will be able to go Friday, when the Pelicans will play a must-win game against either the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors to be the Western Conference's No. 8 seed. That matchup will go down at 9:30 p.m. ET in New Orleans.