On April 18, Beijing time, the NBA play-offs continued, and the Pelicans officially announced Zion's injury, suffering a left hamstring strain, which was re-evaluated in about two weeks. In the playoff battle between the Pelicans and the Lakers, Zion performed very well, but in the last three minutes he went straight back to the locker room, and there was a lot of speculation at the time, but now those conspiracy theories have been shattered.
At that time, Zion's momentum was very hot, and he continued to attack the interior to score points, whether it was James or Davis, there was no way at all. But in the last 3 minutes, after Zion broke through and scored, he looked frustrated and signaled to the team's bench, and then he pulled up his shirt to hide his face, and his face was very unhappy. Then the camera shows him, only to see him throw his towel in anger, then walk back to the locker room, never to return, and the Pelicans eventually lost the game.
After Zion returned to the locker room, there were also a lot of conspiracy theories that Zion could no longer play and that the league wanted to let the Lakers advance to the playoffs. But this is complete nonsense, there is no way that this is the case, Zion is just injured, he himself feels very unwell, and he is the kind of person who can't hold on. If he can persevere, Zion will definitely not leave and will continue to stay on the court, after all, he is very important to the team, and the team is completely counting on him to score.
Before Zion retired from injury, he had already scored 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and played very well, leading the team to successfully tie the score from the unfavorable situation of falling behind. Unexpectedly, in the end, they lost to injuries, so the team also regretted defeat, and then they had to compete with the Kings for the last playoff spot in the West. But in this life-and-death battle, Zion was unable to play and missed the game due to injury, which means that the Pelicans may end the season early.
If the Pelicans really can't make the playoffs, it will still be a big blow to them, and it will be a bit embarrassing to fight for a season, lose the direct playoff spot in the last game, and fail to qualify in the play-offs. The play-off match between the Pelicans and the Kings will start on the 20th, and the winner of the two teams will become the No. 8 seed in the West and face the Thunder in the first round.