Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said that he would "love" to return to the Premier League after he was sacked by the north London club earlier this season.

Pochettino, who guided Spurs to their first Champions League final last season, was replaced by former Manchester United and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

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Speaking to Sky Sports' In The Pink podcast, the Argentine manager, who was spotted alongside United chief executive Ed Woodward's advisor Neil Ashton on Tuesday, has said that he would relish another opportunity to return to England's top flight.

"I would love to work in the Premier League," Pochettino said. "It's going to be difficult I know and for now it's a moment to wait and we'll see what happens.

"It's a moment of recovery, to think about yourself a little bit, and to be ready because in football always something can happen and you need to be ready.

"I'm ready and waiting for a new challenge. I have the belief and confidence that the next challenge will be fantastic."

Pochettino said that he was "very proud" of his acheivements at Spurs and the period was a "pivotal moment for the club."

"Everything I had to do was very scary in those moments," he added. "To destroy White Hart Lane and to build a new stadium, to play at Wembley and Milton Keynes, only football people know how difficult it was to deal with these situations.

"To apply a new philosophy and new ideas was very tough but I feel very proud with the success we had and to take Tottenham to a different level. To play in the Champions League for three or four years and finish above Arsenal many times was a great legacy for us.

"To win a title would be a great reward but for us that is the legacy, to have the club and the stadium at Tottenham. That is more than winning titles."

Spurs finished in the top four of the Premier League in each of the past four seasons under Pochettino before he was sacked earlier this term following a poor run of results.

Pochettino first arrived in England in 2013 to manage Southampton, who he guided to an eighth place finish in the league in his first full season at the club. He also had a previous coaching spell at Espanyol.

If there were a film to describe the course of the current Bundesliga season, it could well be "The Empire Strikes Back." Bayern Munich were meant to be in crisis, having sacked manager Niko Kovac in November after a series of disappointing results. Meanwhile, a trio of challengers waited to take advantage: RB Leipzig, catalysed by the brilliant Julian Nagelsmann, Lucien Favre's Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach, who are enjoying a thrilling campaign under Marco Rose. Yet as we enter the later stages of the campaign, Bayern stand at the top of the table.

In Spain, Real Madrid have pulled off a similar trick. At the start of the season, they too appeared to be an ailing empire. Their coach, Zinedine Zidane, faced accusations that he was merely suited to knockout tournaments, not the long haul. He had fallen out publicly with star Gareth Bale, making every effort to extract him from the club. His midfielders were experiencing an extended run of poor form, and his summer signings (Luka Jovic, Eden Hazard, Eder Militao) were falling flat. A few months later, Zidane's men lead La Liga, three points clear of Barcelona.

How have these teams done it?

Broadly speaking, there are three reasons: Football's major empires are wealthy, are ruthless and have been here before. Their institutional memory is one of victory. When Bayern were struggling, they were able to throw money at the problem. After the superb performances of Robert Lewandowski kept them competitive early in the season, summer additions Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic have added much-needed quality and depth in attack.

Such are Madrid's financial resources that they were able to absorb the difficult teething period for Jovic, who has scored only twice since his €60 million transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.

However, money is nothing without ruthlessness, and both Bayern and Real have an abundance of that. Bayern could not care less how they were perceived for sacking Kovac, the man who only a few months earlier delivered them a domestic league and cup double. Similarly, Madrid were not much bothered by the open warfare between Zidane and Bale; though the player has not featured much this season, there's no sign that he has significantly harmed their title ambitions.

In both cases, the clubs acted quickly to address the signs of off-field chaos. This is a lesson Manchester United and Barcelona, in persisting so long with their leaders at the managerial and boardroom level, have failed to heed. While United toil in contention for the Europa League, Barcelona are struggling to move on from the sluggish end to the Ernesto Valverde era, allowing Madrid to nose their way in front.

Last of all, there is the question of prior experience. Watching Real Madrid, who own the best defensive record in La Liga, there is a sense that they are playing from memory, that club greats such as Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are going through the familiar motions of glory. They've won so many trophies that they know both how success works and how to pace themselves throughout a season.

In Germany, there is a comparable picture. Although Leipzig, Dortmund and Gladbach have produced some of the season's most exhilarating results in isolation, Bayern still hold a considerable advantage: namely, that several members of their side have won at least five consecutive league titles with them, and five (Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez and David Alaba) have won the past seven.

The coach in Spain or Germany who seems most aware of the scale of the challenge is Leipzig's Nagelsmann, a manager whose own club, it must be said, is not exactly short of money. In a surprisingly combative recent address to his players, following a startling 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, he said, "We need to decide whether or not we push towards the title or whether we stay here, have something to eat and drink, and fall back into the pack."

Nagelsmann believed that his players, none of whom have won the Bundesliga, were merely happy to be at the top of the league, therefore suffering from a sort of altitude excitement. His words seemed harsh at the time, but results since then have stood them in decent stead. Draws against Gladbach and Bayern mean that the only game left against their closest challengers is at home to Borussia Dortmund, whose defence has been inconsistent of late and whose injuries, most notably to Marco Reus and Julian Brandt, have come at precisely the wrong time. Although Leipzig could and should have beaten Bayern, following startling misses from Timo Werner and Marcel Sabitzer, they remain just one point off the top after Sunday's 0-0 draw.

Perhaps Nagelsmann has decided that in order to break a club's reign, you need to be even more brutal than they are. A complaint levelled at Dortmund last season, most devastatingly by former Bayern striker Sandro Wagner, was that they were far from the supreme outfit everyone else in Germany thought. By contrast, Leipzig have shown of late that they have the resilience -- and, just maybe, the ruthlessness -- to resist one of football's proudest empires, for a season at least.

Queensland and Australia's out-of-favour Test opener Matt Renshaw will take a short break from cricket in order to freshen up after being dropped from Queensland's Sheffield Shield team for the upcoming clash against Tasmania in Brisbane.

Renshaw, 23, missed out on Queensland's 12-man squad after scoring just 182 runs at 20.22 with a highest score of just 36 in 10 Sheffield Shield innings prior to the BBL. He had come out of the BBL as Brisbane Heat's second-highest run-scorer, which included three half-centuries, but made just 26 off 117 balls in Queensland's 2nd XI clash with Western Australia in Perth last week.

The return of Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne saw him squeezed out of Queensland's Shield top order with Bryce Street's form in his debut season entrenching him at the top, while Sam Heazlett made 125 for the Queensland's 2nd XI in their innings victory over WA.

Renshaw didn't play club cricket last Saturday for family reasons but was set to be selected in the Cricket Australia XI to face England Lions in a four-day game in Hobart starting this Saturday. It is understood he was initially keen to play but following a lengthy and arduous BBL and a 2nd XI trip to Perth last week it was decided, in conjunction with the Queensland management, that Renshaw should rest for a couple of weeks to freshen up.

He won't play club cricket for Toombul this weekend although rain is likely to wash out a majority of Queensland premier cricket games in Brisbane.

He will instead prepare for Queensland's next 2nd XI fixture which begins on February 24 against ACT/NSW Country although he may well come into consideration for Queensland's Sheffield Shield match against Victoria starting on the same date, with skipper Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne likely to be missing.

Khawaja will play in the Australia A clash with England Lions at the MCG starting on February 22 while Labuschagne will head to South Africa to join Australia's ODI squad ahead of the first ODI of a three-match series starting on February 29.

Renshaw has not been in Test calculations since the tour of the UAE in October 2018. After suffering a concussion whilst fielding at short leg in the warm-up game he was not selected for the two Tests against Pakistan despite being passed fit.

Since then he has averaged just 21.68 in 34 first-class games for Queensland and Kent with just two half-centuries. Australia have used six different Test openers in that period including Burns, Khawaja, David Warner, Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, and Cameron Bancroft.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has declined the Pakistan Cricket Board's proposal to play their second and final Test in early April as a day-night affair, saying that the team is not prepared for it at the moment.

"We have spoken with our team management and they are not ready to play a day-night Test at the moment, due to lack of preparation," Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB chief executive, was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune.

"The board understands their [team management] point of view and, after taking everything into consideration, we have decided not to play day-night Test in Pakistan."

The Bangladesh tour of Pakistan was finalised as a three-part affair because of the visitors' concerns about the security situation. The first leg, of three T20Is, was played over a four-day period in January in Lahore, Pakistan winning 2-0, and the first of two Tests was played earlier this month, Bangladesh losing by an innings and 44 runs.

The third leg, in early April, will feature a one-off ODI and the second Test, both in Karachi. The two-Test series is part of the World Test Championship.

Pakistan have played four day-night Tests so far, losing in Australia in 2016 and 2019 and winning one - against West Indies in Dubai in 2016 - and losing one - against Sri Lanka in Dubai in 2017. As for Bangladesh, their maiden foray into the format didn't go as expected, as they lost by an innings and 46 runs to India in Kolkata late last year.

Umar Akmal's alleged misbehaviour with a staff member after a failed fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore was the result of a "misunderstanding", the PCB said after concluding its inquiry into the incident. Akmal will face no sanction, only a reminder of his responsibilities.

A board statement on Wednesday said that Umar had "offered his regrets" to the PCB for his action, and he was in turn reprimanded and "reminded him of his responsibilities as a senior cricketer".

The two-day inquiry looked into an incident in which Umar had misbehaved during a fitness test, where, when the skin-fold test was being conducted, he is believed to have exposed himself in front of the trainer and alleged to have asked: "Where is the fat?"

The misunderstanding line was one Umar's elder brother Kamran Akmal - who has also failed his fitness tests - had put forward after the incident.

The shortcomings of the Akmal brothers around their fitness regimes has been a talking point for several years now, with Umar last falling foul of the PCB management on this count under former head coach Mickey Arthur; he was sent home on the eve of the Champions Trophy in 2017 after a failed test.

Kamran, meanwhile, has not played for Pakistan since 2017, with his lack of athleticism in the outfield a major reason for his prolonged exclusion.

The Emirates Cricket Board has sacked head coach Dougie Brown and hired former India allrounder Robin Singh as the new director of cricket. Brown, former England and Scotland allrounder, was the UAE coach for nearly three years, having been appointed in May 2017.

Brown saw the team through a tough phase when it was hit by a corruption scandal recently. Their captain and two other senior players had been charged by the ICC for breaching the anti-corruption code just before the T20 World Cup Qualifiers last year. Even without those important players, UAE won four of their six matches in Group B, including a big win over Ireland, to qualify for the playoffs.

UAE's selection panel had also been disbanded and Brown was the sole selector to pick squads for their series against Scotland, USA, and against Oman and Namibia in January which was part of the World Cup League 2. They won three of their six completed games and currently sit fifth on the table.

Brown also oversaw UAE maintain their ODI status when they were pushed back to WCL Division Two in Namibia in 2018 after finishing low in the WCL Championship.

Singh has a fair bit of coaching experience behind him, having coached the teams of Hong Kong and USA. He has also been associated with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, and recently in the T10 League too.

Nepal's teenage legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane played a central role in a history-making day at Tribhuvan University Stadium on Wednesday morning, turning in the second-best ever figures by an Associate bowler in ODIs. His career-best 6 for 16 in just six overs helped bowl out USA for just 35. It was the joint-lowest total in ODIs and the shortest completed innings in ODI cricket, wrapped up in just 12 overs.

"It's a fantastic feeling to be on that list [of best figures in ODI cricket]," Lamichhane said after the match that lasted less than two hours. "But if you talk about 6 for 16, it's for the team and the team is important for us. Two wins out of four [matches], still 32 games to go [in the World Cup League 2] and beating the top team in the league so far, I think it's a positive sign for us."

USA had entered the ODI tri-series in Nepal - that also includes Oman - as the table leaders in the seven-team WCL 2 tournament that continues until 2022. But the USA team leaves Kathmandu licking their wounds with four consecutive losses. Oman won their four matches to jump over USA to be at the top of the table.

It also continues a historic trend of Nepal spinners having tremendous success against USA. On USA's last visit to Nepal in 2010 for the WCL Division 5, teenage left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma took 7 for 15 to lead a win for Nepal in the tournament final. Left-arm spinner Basant Regmi also took back-to-back five-wicket hauls against USA in twin victories at 2012 WCL Division 4 in Malaysia. However, none of those tournaments had ODI status as they were played long before both nations attained their current ODI status.

Lamichhane's figures are behind only Rashid Khan's 7 for 18 against West Indies, just weeks before Afghanistan were granted Test status. Lamichhane jokingly responded at the post-match press conference that Rashid is "a Test player now, so forget that! Number One!" Lamichhane said as he pointed to himself, sparking laughter from the assembled media.

Lamichhane's performance was also noteworthy because he did it with the new ball after Nepal chose to field first. The spinner has had a regular habit of bowling in the powerplay in franchise T20 cricket and said his experiences in various competitions bowling with a hard new ball helped him in his record performance in what was the shorted completed ODI in history, lasting a total of 17.2 overs.

"I've been bowling for the last two years with the new ball. So I've got that experience how to give that rip with the new ball. It's all about the backing you get from the captain as well and the kind of response he is giving to my bowling as well. So the belief and trust from the captain, that was the thing that helped me to perform like that today."

Michigan State is set to hire Colorado's Mel Tucker as its next football coach, sources told ESPN.

Tucker, one of several candidates to seemingly turn down Michigan State's initial overtures, became the focus of the school's search late Sunday and throughout Monday, sources said. On Saturday, he tweeted that he remained committed to Colorado after speaking with MSU about its coaching vacancy.

While I am flattered to be considered for the HC job @MSU_football, I am committed to @CUBuffsFootball for #TheBuild of our program, its great athletes, coaches & supporters. #UnfinishedBusiness #GoBuffs

We are #Relentless #Culture #TheBuild

— Mel Tucker (@Coach_mtucker) February 8, 2020

A source said Tucker was hesitant to leave Colorado after only one season as the Buffaloes' coach and attended an event with Colorado donors on Monday in Denver. But Michigan State offered more resources, beyond just annual salary.

An official announcement could come later Wednesday.

The Athletic first reported MSU's expected hire of Tucker.

The 48-year-old Tucker will replace Mark Dantonio, who announced his retirement last week after 13 seasons at Michigan State. Dantonio, 63, went 114-57 with the Spartans, winning or sharing three Big Ten championships and reaching the College Football Playoff in 2015. He left as Michigan State's all-time winningest coach but also facing a lawsuit from former recruiting director Curtis Blackwell, who alleges that Dantonio committed multiple NCAA violations.

Michigan State interviewed Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell on Sunday, but Fickell decided early Monday to remain with the Bearcats. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, a longtime Michigan State assistant under Dantonio, also opted to remain in his job. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, another former MSU assistant, and Iowa State coach Matt Campbell also declined to pursue the Spartans job.

Tucker, a Cleveland native who played defensive back at Wisconsin, began his coaching career at Michigan State as a graduate assistant for Nick Saban in 1997. He was a defensive coordinator for three NFL teams and served as the Jacksonville Jaguars' interim head coach in 2011, going 2-3. Tucker worked alongside Dantonio at Ohio State from 2001 to 2003 and held coordinator jobs at Ohio State and Georgia, before landing his first head-coaching opportunity at Colorado.

Tucker went 5-7 last season with the Buffaloes and last week finalized the nation's No. 34 recruiting class, according to ESPN.

PHILADELPHIA -- The past 72 hours have perfectly encapsulated the inconsistent nature of the Philadelphia 76ers' season so far.

Sunday's lackluster home win over the Chicago Bulls represents one of the low points of the Sixers' season. In response to loud boos, Joel Embiid told fans to "shut up" twice during the fourth quarter -- once with an expletive. Embiid's social media post on Monday further inflamed the story.

Although Tuesday began with more discussion of Embiid's social media post and a monumental lineup change, the Sixers' 110-103 win over the LA Clippers was one of their best of the season as they head into the All-Star break.

"The second part of the season," Embiid said afterward, "is going to be extremely fun."

Time will tell if Embiid's proclamation will be true. With Philadelphia, the league's best home record is contrasted by a 9-19 road record matched by the New York Knicks. Fit issues abound. Several trade-deadline additions are still adjusting to their new surroundings.

As the 76ers head into a much-needed All-Star break, here's an assessment of what we know and don't know about one of the league's most confusing teams.

1. Joel Embiid's return to form

In the wake of his return to social media trolling, Embiid declared that it wasn't going to be a one-time thing.

"I'm back to doing whatever I want, and saying whatever I want," Embiid said after Tuesday's performance. "That's how I used to be, and you know, I was dominating that way."

If Embiid plays every game like he did Tuesday, the Sixers will be happy to have him return to dunking on people on Instagram and Twitter. The game was a showcase of all the things that make Embiid one of the sport's best players when he is locked in and engaged. He was dominant in the paint, helping Philadelphia earn a 58-38 edge in points there, and neutralized Clippers center Montrezl Harrell.

It is that version of Embiid that the Sixers need to get on a regular basis if they are to have any hope of achieving their championship aspirations. Outings such as Tuesday's, with Embiid engaged and locked in, display the team's potential.

It didn't hurt that Embiid and Ben Simmons finally looked in sync, with head coach Brett Brown calling it "arguably the best game that those two have paired with since I've been the coach here." Tuesday's win was a reminder of the duo's ceiling, despite questions about their long-term viability.

It would make their lives easier, though, if Embiid, Simmons and the rest of the Sixers could display some consistency for a change.

2. What to expect from Al Horford

After he spent the past decade considered one of the NBA's most versatile big men, this season -- his first in Philadelphia -- has been a trying one for Al Horford.

Horford met with Brown on Monday and was informed that he would be coming off the bench for the first time since November 2007, his rookie season.

"I just accepted it," Horford said after the game. "Obviously, not the position that I saw myself in, but it's what was best for the team."

Horford handled the situation professionally. But it was clear that he was frustrated by it.

The Sixers got Horford for two reasons. First, they thought they needed a better option to throw at Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the team to beat in the East. Second, whenever Embiid sat last postseason, they needed a quality center.

That is why Horford was befuddled when asked Tuesday how his role will change.

"I honestly don't think it changes much from what I was doing before," he said.

Horford spent a large stretch of the fourth quarter Tuesday playing alongside Embiid before he gave way to a smaller, quicker lineup like the one that started the game. That's what made Brown's decision to take Horford out of the starting lineup questionable.

"I spoke to Al Horford about it, and we are trying to find ways to help him and help the team," Brown said. "I felt ... that the time was appropriate to do it and see if we could get that second unit going with Al."

"How I end games, to me, will be the judgment," Brown said.

If Philadelphia can't find a way to have Horford and Embiid more effectively coexist, the idea of the team's marquee free-agent signing sitting and watching in the closing minutes of the playoffs could become more of a reality.

3. The potential of the supporting cast

Josh Richardson was a major factor in the Sixers' victory Tuesday, starting for the first time since he hurt his hamstring at the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22 and scoring 17 of his 21 points in the final quarter.

Richardson finished plus-24 in 31 minutes and seemingly had an answer for every Clippers surge down the stretch.

"I kind of started attacking a little bit more," Richardson said. "I was kind of just reading the defense. Coach put the ball in my hands and gave me the freedom to read it and attack and take what I saw."

Acquired in the sign-and-trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat this summer, Richardson has flown under the radar this season, but his absence the past few weeks has been a significant part of why the Sixers have struggled of late.

Horford has borne the brunt of the misgivings about Philadelphia's fit issues, but the Sixers will need more from Richardson and Tobias Harris. Through his hamstring issues, Richardson has been shooting just 33.9% from 3-point range. Harris has made admirable improvements defensively while shooting 36.7% from deep.

On a team with this many spacing issues, the 76ers need their supporting players to knock down shots. Horford and Richardson did Tuesday; Harris (8-for-19 overall, 1-for-6 from 3-point range, 17 points) did not. Support from the bench will help, too, as Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks will get their chances after being acquired from the Golden State Warriors last week.

4. The Sixers' place in the East

Coming into this season, the Eastern Conference was seen as a two-horse race between the Bucks and the Sixers. Milwaukee has lived up to its end of the bargain and is pushing toward 70 wins this season. Philadelphia? Not so much.

Rather than fighting for home court throughout the playoffs, the Sixers right now are fighting for the fourth seed. After Tuesday's triumph, Philadelphia sits three games back of the fourth-place Heat and six games back of the third-place Boston Celtics in the loss column.

A playoff run that could begin with a reunion with Butler in the first round seems like a tall order for a team with one of the worst road records in the league. With the hole they've dug for themselves, the Sixers don't have any room for error going forward.

"For me, I like to look it [as going] back to 0-0, kind of like a refresh button," Simmons said of the All-Star break. "Hopefully, everybody mentally gets that break and comes back focused and ready."

They don't have a choice. The expectations for this season were sky-high for a reason. The roster is laden with talent -- and expensive talent at that. The home wins over the likes of the Celtics, Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Heat are proof of what this team can do. Likewise, the road losses to the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic (twice) show how this group struggles to play to its potential.

In many ways, this Sixers team feels reminiscent of last season's Celtics -- a group that, right until they lost their fourth game in a row to the Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, was expected to flip the switch and have everything click into place. The prior eight months, however, proved that there was no switch to flip. The inconsistency that team showed from start to finish was, in fact, its true form.

The 76ers' playoff fate will depend on which team we see in the second half.

NEW ORLEANS -- It caught Zion Williamson a little off guard to see what he's been able to do so far in his short career for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The No. 1 overall pick in last year's NBA draft, in just his ninth career game, put up 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists -- in just under 28 minutes -- in the Pelicans' 138-117 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

It's the kind of impression others have felt he could make on the game early on, but not Williamson himself.

"I expect to make an impact, but I don't expect to do nothing like this," Williamson said after the victory. "Just kinda look to come in, kinda fit, not try to mess up. My teammates and coaches are always pushing me, like be outside the box."

While Williamson might have been a little shocked at his performance, no one in the Pelicans' locker room was.

Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday, in his 11th NBA season, said Williamson's performance was "expected."

"Honestly, man, I don't see anyone that can guard him," Holiday added.

The 6-foot-6, 284-pound Williamson already has been a matchup nightmare in his first few weeks on the job. What started in the preseason, when he was challenging the likes of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, has carried over into the regular season.

Williamson's strength has been too much for smaller defenders, and he can just as easily use his quickness against larger foes.

On Tuesday, Portland started the game with center Hassan Whiteside on Williamson. On the Pelicans' second possession, Williamson got the ball at the key and drove right at Whiteside but missed the layup attempt. However, he got the offensive rebound and was fouled by Whiteside, then made both free throws.

When Portland went to Carmelo Anthony to guard Williamson, the 19-year-old did his best to bury Anthony in the post. If Portland stuck Trevor Ariza on him, Williamson showed off his growing knowledge with a counter move to the right after Ariza took away his favored left.

According to Second Spectrum data, Whiteside was the primary defender on Williamson most of the night, and Williamson went 5-of-11 with 17 points (the five field goals while going 7-of-8 from the line).

Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, who said the Blazers "didn't have an answer" for Williamson, says he's excited to see what more the rookie can do.

"I mean, he's only gonna get better," Ball said. "He's 19. Came in midseason. I feel like he's still not in the shape he can be in. It's kinda scary thinking about what he can do in the future, but we'll take 31 every night."

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Williamson is the first rookie since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77 to have a 30-point, five-rebound, five-assist game in fewer than 30 minutes.

It was the fewest games a No. 1 pick needed to score 30 points since Allen Iverson in his debut in 1996.

And according to ESPN Stats & Information research, Williamson is the third player with seven 20-point games in his first 10 career games over the past 30 seasons, joining Grant Hill and Shaquille O'Neal. He's the only player in that span to need only nine games to do so, becoming the first player since Ron Harper in 1986-87 to accomplish that.

Williamson says his game is just about finding the right spot on the court and making the right decision when he gets the ball.

"I think it is kind of happening," Williamson said. "People are trying to find their own way. I feel like my game is so unique I'll be able to adjust to it on the fly. At the end of the day, I'm 19. I have a lot of room for growing. I will mess up. I'm not perfect -- I'm just gonna learn from them."

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Williamson was "just being Zion" on Tuesday. And a lot more is to come.

"We say it all the time," Gentry said, "I don't think he's even scratched the surface."