Month: March 2026

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) — Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has another potential injury to deal with after leaving New Orleans’ game at Utah in the second quarter Saturday night.

The Pelicans announced Williamson would not return due to an injury to his right ankle in a game New Orleans went on to win 115-105.

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Interim coach James Borrego said Williams “tweaked the ankle,” but didn’t have an immediate update on severity of the injury. “Hopefully, it’s nothing serious, and we’ll have him back out there very soon,” Borrego said.

It’s the latest setback for the oft-injured player who had already missed 16 games this season due to various ailments. The game against Utah was the two-time All-Star’s 35th straight — an NBA career-best for Williamson — dating to Dec. 11, after he sat out five games with a right hip adductor strain.

Williamson had four points, two assists and a rebound in 11 minutes of playing time against Utah.

Selected by the Pelicans with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft out of Duke, Williams has been limited to playing just 258 of 543 potential regular-season games, and never more than 25 in a row before this most recent stretch. He also missed the entire 2021-22 season with a broken right foot.

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The Pelicans’ lineup was already depleted in playing without small forward Trey Murphy (right shoulder), center Yves Missi (left calf) and guard Dejounte Murray (reconditioning).

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Several usual issues hurt Utah as they fell 73-60 to Arizona State at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday afternoon.

While Utah got off to a strong start, defensive breakdowns and struggling to attack the Sun Devils zone defense were too much to overcome.

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Here’s a look at three takeaways from a loss that drops Utah to 10-19 overall and 2-14 in Big 12 play.

Struggles attacking the zone

Things looked good for Utah early when the Runnin’ Utes got out to a 14-5 lead.

After Terrence Brown picked up two early fouls, though, Utah struggled to attack Arizona State’s zone defense and its offense stagnated for much of the day.

The Sun Devils turned around the complexion of the contest by outscoring Utah 20-5 over the final 10:51 of the first half to take a 34-24 lead into the break.

The Utes shot 34.5% from the field in the first half, while Arizona State shot 44.8% and made 6 of 11 3-pointers in the same time frame.

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Keanu Dawes led Utah with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Don McHenry, who hit four 3-points, added 14 points.

Defensive breakdowns and ASU’s 3-point shooting

Some of Utah’s defensive issues that started to show later in the first half became a bigger issue in the second half.

Overall, the Utes allowed the Sun Devils to shoot 49.1% for the game, including 53.8% after halftime. Arizona State also made 9 of 17 3-pointers and scored 39 points in the second half to keep Utah from rallying.

Maurice Odum led four Sun Devils in double-figures, as he put up 15 points, four assists, one block and a steal.

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Santiago Truet had a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) to go with three blocks, while Massamba Diop (14) and Anthony Johnson (13) also scored in double-figures.

How did Lucas Langarita look?

Utah got back mid-year addition Lucas Langarita, the guard from Spain who has missed the past 12 games due to injury.

There was understandably some rust, as he had two turnovers and shot 0 of 2 in the first half.

Langarita, though, had an impressive three-possession stretch in the second half that showcased what he could bring to Utah down the stretch and if he chooses to stick around beyond this season.

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First, he made a long jumper with the shot clock running down to cut the ASU lead to 43-34.

On Utah’s next offensive possession, he passed to Dawes, who drove into the lane and scored two points at the hoop.

Then Langarita rebounded an Arizona State miss, pushed the ball upcourt in the fast break and McHenry for 3, getting credit for his lone assist.

That cut the Arizona State lead to 43-39.

Langarita played 16 minutes and had 2 points on 1 of 3 shooting (0 of 1 from 3), two rebounds, an assist and a steal to go with two turnovers.