Williamson returns in style as Pelicans slam Clippers

The New Orleans Pelicans were without Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones and Dyson Daniels. The Los Angeles Clippers were missing Kawhi Leonard.

That should have been advantage L.A.

Instead, the huge advantage was with the other LA as the team from Louisiana handled the Clippers in Los Angeles by a convincing 112-91 margin Sunday afternoon.

The Pelicans came out slow, scoring just 18 points in the opening quarter and trailed 25-18 and actually fell behind by double digits in the half.

The rest of the game belonged to New Orleans, which built a 24-point lead and coasted to an impressive victory.

Zion Williamson returned from his hip injury. On the first play of the game, Williamson hit the floor fairly hard. The collective gasp was palpable.

Zion got up, kept playing and shined. He finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes in an outstanding effort. It was his first double-double of the young season.

Williamson was not alone.

It was good to see CJ McCollum finally shoot it well from distance.

McCollum made 4 of 8 from 3-point range and led New Orleans with 22 points.

In a truly balanced effort, Naji Marshall had 17 points with six rebounds and four assists and he made 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Trey Murphy III scored 15 points and had five rebounds.

Larry Nance Jr. had 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Jonas Valanciunas finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

It was truly a great display of sharing the ball as New Orleans had 33 assists on 46-made shots.

The Pelicans controlled the boards by a 50-39 margin.

The Pelicans shot 49.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range. New Orleans drilled Los Angeles by a 59-39 margin on points in the paint.

Garrett Temple actually got in to play four minutes. Dereon Seabronn even got on the floor in the final minute.

While the offense was efficient, the defense was excellent, holding the Clippers to 41.9 percent shooting from the field.

The Clippers had 15 turnovers to 13 for New Orleans.

Next up, the Pelicans (4-2) stay in Los Angeles and take on the hapless Lakers Wednesday night.

There is a good chance that Daniels returns for that game and a reasonable chance that Jones could return.

Injuries are never welcome and never positive but the positive with the injuries for New Orleans is allowing Willie Green to develop quality depth and that depth is obvious with Murphy III, Nance, Marshall, Jose Alvarado, Devonte Graham and Daniels.

That will only become an accelerated asset when Ingram, Jones and Daniels return.