NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans opened its preseason schedule with a 106-104 win over the Orlando Magic inside the Smoothie King Center on Monday afternoon.
Last year's first round pick out of UConn, shooting guard Jordan Hawkins, who averaged 7.8 points per game last season, came off the bench and led the Pels in scoring with 18 points in 21 minutes.
“I feel like I had that last year when I was playing," Hawkins said on having the "green light" from head coach Willie Green. "I think they’re comfortable with me taking any three-point shot. This year is kind of the same mentality. I’m a three-level scorer, keep the defense guessing.”
Sixth-year Pels forward Zion Williamson scored 16 in 19 minutes of play and recorded a team-high eight rebounds with three assists. Center Daniel Theis and Forward Malcolm Hill also registered double-digit scoring with 13 and 11 points respectively.
“It felt great, especially being back on the court with my teammates," said Williamson on playing time after the game. "Felt pretty good out there, and [I’m] going to build off that.”
Forward Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 15 points.
“Yeah, it was a fun game," said Coach Green. "I love the fact that all the concepts that we’ve been working on in training camp, you can see a lot of carry-over, and that’s refreshing, to know that these guys are taking that information and they’re applying it.
"That’s what preseason is for: to get your group together, get them on the floor, make sure that we’re fundamentally sound," he continued. "I like a lot of the things we did tonight, and there’s a ton of good that we will take away from this film.”
Pels play three more preseason games before opening the season at home against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 23.
The next preseason game, a rematch with the Magic in Orlando, is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
