Will Zion Williamson play today against the Thunder in Game 4 of the first round?

A disappointing end to the regular season for the New Orleans Pelicans meant they went into the 2024 NBA Playoffs as No. 8 seed and were forced to take on Western Conference top dogs the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. As if that weren’t challenging enough, their task has been made even tougher by the absence of star power forward Zion Williamson, who will also miss Game 4 on Monday (29 April), which is a must win for Willie Green’s team.

Why isn’t Williamson playing for the Pelicans against the Thunder?

Williamson suffered a left hamstring injury with about three minutes remaining in the Play-in tournament defeat to the Lakers (Wednesday 17 April), which has already forced him to sit out the win over Sacramento in the No. 8 seed game and three straight losses to the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs (92-94, 92-124 and 85-106).

Williamson’s fitness was assessed after the defeat in Game 3 on Saturday, with the conclusion being that he is making progress but won’t be ready to take to the court in Game 4, as confirmed by injury reports early on Monday.

Will the Pelicans star play in the 2024 NBA Playoffs?

The two-time NBA All-Star was initially ruled out for two weeks, with a potential Game 5 of the series against Oklahoma, which is scheduled for Wednesday 1 May, pencilled in for his return.

Williamson himself has said there is a “realistic” chance he could be back playing in the NBA Playoffs but stopped short of revealing exactly what game he had targeted for his return. The series against OKC Thunder could run through until Sunday 5 May, when Game 7 will take place.

However, that now looks very unlikely considering Mark Daigneault’s team are 3-0 up in the series and will progress to Conference semifinals with a victory on Monday. New Orleans therefore have to win Game 4 if we are to have any chance of seeing the 23-year-old back in action before next season.

What injury does Jeremiah Robinson-Earl have? Will he play against the Thunder?

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was a late injury addition to the list for the Pelicans for Game 3, with his name appearing on the sheet some hours after its initial release. He was unavailable on Saturday because of an ankle sprain but is listed as questionable for Game 4, which means there is a chance he could make an appearance at some stage.

Back to Williamson. He was highly impressive in the Play-in game against the Lakers, scoring 40 points and grabbing 11 rebounds but the player has seen injury hamper his progression as a player, being forced to miss large swathes of his time in the NBA due to a series of injuries to his knee, hand, foot, and hamstring.

This 2023-24 season was the first campaign where he managed to avoid serious injuries, with the hamstring problem coming at an unfortunate time for the player and his Pelicans team.