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By Aman Sharma
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New Orleans Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson challenged teammates and coaches to hold themselves accountable after a 145-111 defeat to the Brooklyn Nets.
The rout dropped New Orleans to 4-8 and marked the third game in a row the Pelicans surrendered no fewer than 138 points, a defensive stretch with no equal in team history.
The four-game skid leaves head coach Jamahl Mosley, brought in to spark a turnaround after offseason changes, with a team resembling last year’s. Williamson put up 29 points, yet Brooklyn, which came in at 2-8, scored almost at will.
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Williamson kept his first answer brief, according to ESPN.
“Unacceptable,” Williamson said. “I don’t even have a lot of words. Just unacceptable.”
From there, he asked everyone in the building for an honest self-evaluation.
“As men, we have to, as a unit, players, coaches, everybody, you have to go look yourself in the mirror when you by yourself and say, did I do everything that I needed to do for my team? Was I in the gaps on defense? Was I a low man when I was supposed to? Did I get out there and contest shots to make it tough on them? Did I do everything I needed to do? Did I give in real effort? That’s what everybody has to do,” Williamson said.
Brooklyn’s onslaught followed a 51-point drubbing by the Golden State Warriors two days earlier. The two blowouts added up to an 85-point deficit.
That’s a sharp turn from how the season began. New Orleans dropped its first four games by a total of 23 points, then won four straight to climb back to .500.
Two of those wins came against the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz, hardly the stiffest tests on the schedule.
Now in his seventh season, Williamson is averaging 21.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He kept the emphasis on the group.
“I said nobody likes to lose like this, but if we don’t like to lose like this, we have to start with ourselves first,” Williamson said. “Look in the mirror and say, did I do what I needed to do for my team? Not individually. Did I do what I needed to do for my team? And then we go from there.”
Repairing the defense comes first, and the Pelicans must manage it with Trey Murphy III and Yves Missi both hurt.
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