Game Thread: Who should Zion Williamson guard on the San Antonio Spurs?

The New Orleans Pelicans will look to hand the San Antonio Spurs their first loss of the season once the game tips at the top of the next hour.

The biggest thing I’ll be watching for is, who does Zion Williamson guard? If Gregg Popovich starts the same type of lineup that we saw in the Orlando bubble and now in the first two games this season, DeMar DeRozan is going to start at power forward for the Spurs. Should Stan Van Gundy entrust Williamson with that challenge or Brandon Ingram? (Therefore, hiding Zion on Lonnie Walker.)

Now, maybe Pop decides to throw a bigger frontcourt tandem at Steven Adams and Zion in Jakob Poetl and LaMarcus Aldridge, but that might play into Pelican hands — disrupting the continuity of San Antonio’s regular starting lineup and slowing down their preferred speedier 5-man group significantly.

Either way, Williamson, like most fresh-faced players in the league, has been a liability defensively to start his young career. The route Van Gundy decides to take could play a major role in deciding today’s victor.

For more on today’s matchup, please give Tom’s preview a read.

Let’s go Pels!

Who: New Orleans Pelicans (1-1) vs San Antonio Spurs (2-0)

When: December 27, 6:00 p.m. Central

Where to watch: FSNO

Where to listen: ESPN 100.3 FM

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