NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It's been nearly five years since Pelicans fans packing a downtown block party erupted as New Orleans officially selected Zion Williamson first overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
On Tuesday night, Williamson is slated to play in a postseason game for the first time since he starring for Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It's been nearly five years since Pelicans fans packing a downtown block party erupted as New Orleans officially selected Zion Williamson first overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, left, points to a teammate in front of Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) works the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) shoots over Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 14, 2024. The Lakers won 124-108. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, April 12, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
It'll be in the Western Conference play-in as No. 7 seed New Orleans hosts an eighth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers team featuring NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James and the Pelicans' 2012 first overall draft choice, Anthony Davis.
“We’re all extremely proud that Z has this opportunity and that our team has this opportunity," Pelicans coach Willie Green said after practice Monday. "He’s worked his tail off. ... His first time being able to experience this is a major step.”
Williamson's first four years were defined mostly by teasing flashes of what he could accomplish with his unusual combination of size (listed at 6-foot-7, 284 pounds), skill and explosiveness. A series of injuries to his knee, hand, foot and hamstring limited him to 114 games.
Before this season, Williamson had played in more than 29 games only once in a season. That was his second pro campaign (2020-21), when he averaged 27 points and 7.2 rebounds in 61 games. He broke his left ring finger near the end of that season and New Orleans missed the playoffs.
He missed his entire third pro season because of a foot fracture. The Pelicans made the play-in — and advanced to the first round of the playoffs — without him.
Williamson averaged 26 points in 29 games before a hamstring injury ended his fourth season. The Pelicans again made the Western Conference play-in, but were ousted in one game by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This season, Williamson has played in a career-high 70 games, averaging a team-high 22.9 points. Coaches and teammates say his conditioning — not to mention on-court savvy — have improved since the beginning of the season, when he'd periodically be given games off.
“I wasn’t where I needed to be," Williamson recounted recently. "I was stacking my days and getting where I needed to be. Over time, my coaches and my teammates, they saw and they trusted me, and they’re continuously trusting me.”
Green said he also has seen Williamson's game expand in ways that one might expect for a player whose grand total of previous NBA experience amounted to less than one-and-a-half seasons' worth of games.
“I’ve seen significant growth from Z on and off the floor — his ability to continue to work at his conditioning, to stack his days, work on his game, his ability to be able to read the game throughout the course of the game, to see what teams are doing to him," Green said. "Sometimes they’re packing the paint, he gets off the ball, tremendous passer.
“He’s taken another step this year defensively, guarding the ball, being in the right positions, rebounding,” Green continued. "So, definitely seeing a ton of growth in him.”
During the Pelicans' final 29 games, Williamson was scratched just once. That was after banging his shooting hand against the backboard while blocking a shot. But he returned for the next game at Phoenix, posting 29 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks.
He has ball-handling skills similar to a guard — a position he played in his youth before a growth spurt — and often takes the ball up the floor and initiates the offense in what has become known as his “point Zion” role. He remains a force in the post, with a quick first step and ability to launch his big frame above the rim for thunderous dunks.
After one of his many highlight-filled performances during the final weeks of the regular season, Williamson said it was important for him to show his teammates: "I'm here ... whether it’s diving on the floor, defense, passing, scoring.”
His teammates are pleased to finally have him in uniform for the postseason, but also sound wary of placing too much responsibility on him.
“We’re very happy for him to be on this stage, but there’s no more pressure on him than there is on the rest of us," Pelicans veteran forward Larry Nance Jr. said.
The Pelicans' regular-season finale — a 124-108 loss to the Lakers — was not one of Williamson's best games. Guarded primarily by James, Williamson was held to 12 points. Afterward, he criticized himself for “being too passive.”
Green concurred.
“He has a good feel for the game. He has a feel for when he can be aggressive, when he needs to be more of a connector," the coach said, noting that during New Orleans' victories in their previous four games, Williamson was "doing a great job of mixing it up. And throughout the course of the game, he was finding seams to be able to attack. So, we've just got to get back to that.”
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New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) shoots over Portland Trail Blazers forward Jabari Walker during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, left, points to a teammate in front of Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) works the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) shoots over Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 14, 2024. The Lakers won 124-108. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Friday, April 12, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO countries haven’t delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, the alliance’s chief said Monday, allowing Russia to press its advantage while Kyiv’s depleted forces wait for military supplies to arrive from the U.S. and Europe.
"Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Outgunned, Ukraine’s troops have struggled to fend off Russian advances on the battlefield. They were recently compelled to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the east, where the Kremlin's forces have been making incremental gains, Ukraine's army chief said Sunday. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Monday its forces had also taken the village of Semenivka.
“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line. Lack of air defense has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces,” Stoltenberg said.
Kyiv’s Western partners have repeatedly vowed to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” But vital U.S. military help was held up for six months by political differences in Washington, and Europe’s military hardware production has not kept up with demand. Ukraine’s own manufacturing of heavy weapons is only now starting to gain traction.
Now, Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow and costly but steady Russian advance across eastern areas, as well as thwart drone and missile attacks.
Zelenskyy said new Western supplies have started arriving, but slowly. "This process must be speeded up,” he said at the news conference with Stoltenberg.
Though the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line has shifted little since early in the war, the Kremlin’s forces in recent weeks have edged forward, especially in the Donetsk region, with sheer numbers and massive firepower used to bludgeon defensive positions.
Russia also continues to launch missiles, drones and bombs at cities across Ukraine. At least four people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian missile strike on residential buildings and “civil infrastructure” in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Monday, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging site.
A turreted Gothic-style building known locally as the “Harry Potter Castle,” was seen in flames after the strike.
Russia is a far bigger country than Ukraine, with greater resources. It has also received weapons support from Iran and North Korea, the U.S. government says.
Drawn-out Ukrainian efforts to mobilize more troops, and the belated building of battlefield fortifications, are other factors undermining Ukraine’s war effort, military analysts say.
Nick Reynolds, a research fellow for land warfare at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said the war “is still largely an artillery duel.”
He said he did not expect to see major movement of the front lines in the near term, but that “the conditions are being set for which side has military advantage at the front line. The Russian military is in a better position at the moment.
“When we see one side or the other being in a position to move the front line, at some stage, maneuver will be restored to the battlefield. Not in the next few weeks, maybe not even in the next few months. But it will happen,” he told The Associated Press.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, at a briefing with reporters Monday, also acknowledged Russia’s recent battlefield gains, noting that a delay in congressional approval for additional spending “set the Ukrainians back.”
NATO chief Stoltenberg, however, said more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine are on the way, including Patriot missile systems to defend against heavy Russian barrages that smash into the power grid and urban areas.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is assembling forces for a major summer offensive, even if its troops are making only incremental gains at the moment.
“Russian forces remain unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in the area in the near term,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment Sunday.
Even so, the Kremlin’s forces are closing in on the strategically important hilltop town of Chasiv Yar, whose capture would be an important step forward into the Donetsk region.
Donetsk and Luhansk form much of the industrial Donbas region, which has been gripped by separatist fighting since 2014, and which Putin has set as a primary objective of the Russian invasion. Russia illegally annexed areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions in September 2022.
In other developments, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh made an unannounced visit to Ukraine – the first British royal to travel to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Buckingham Palace said Monday that Sophie, wife of Prince Edward, met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska in Kyiv and delivered a message on behalf of King Charles III. It did not disclose the timing or details of the visit.
The palace said Sophie, 59, made the trip “to demonstrate solidarity with the women, men and children impacted by the war and in a continuation of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.”
Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed reporting.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, centre left, during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Two women walk along a street in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A woman sells toys in front of a building with windows protected by sandbags in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg walk before their press conference in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
