The Pelicans’ ‘math game’ behind Zion Williamson coming off the bench vs. Mavericks

Zion Williamson, on the 14th of December, returned to the New Orleans Pelicans lineup early after initially being projected to miss more time due to an adductor injury. Williamson, however, returned to an unfamiliar role coming off the Pelicans bench — with interim head coach James Borrego opting to keep Saddiq Bey, who’s been good for New Orleans, in the starting lineup.

Suffice to say, this decision from the Pelicans head coach is paying dividends. New Orleans has won five games in a row for the first time in 2023 after securing a 119-113 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, and Williamson is thriving off the bench — scoring a team-high 24 points on 10-14 shooting from the field in just 25 minutes of play.

With Williamson still regaining his full rhythm after missing time earlier in the season with multiple injuries, the Pelicans head coach noted that they want to get the best out of the highflying lefty in every minute he plays on the court — calling it a “math game”.

“The goal was to maximize his minutes. It’s a math game… I knew he was gonna respond well but for him to approach it this way in the mature, team first mentality, he deserves credit for that,” Borrego said, via Pelicans Film Room on X (formerly Twitter).

"The goal was to maximize his minutes. It's a math game… I knew he was gonna respond well but for him to approach it this way in the mature, team first mentality, he deserves credit for that"

— James Borrego on Zion coming off the bench pic.twitter.com/IzuIS5KgAK

— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) December 23, 2025

The Pelicans are clicking

It was always going to take some time considering how young the roster is, but the Pelicans have been figuring something out over the past few weeks. Williamson and Jordan Poole are forming a formidable duo off the bench, freeing up the likes of Derik Queen, Trey Murphy, and Jeremiah Fears to do their work in the starting lineup.

Queen’s emergence into an amazing playmaking hub has made everything that much easier for Williamson and the Pelicans. Losing that 2026 first-round pick still hurts, but doesn’t appear to be as detrimental as many thought when New Orleans went off to such a poor start to the 2025-26 campaign.

The post The Pelicans’ ‘math game’ behind Zion Williamson coming off the bench vs. Mavericks appeared first on ClutchPoints.