Zion Williamson back for Pelicans after sitting with injury

LOS ANGELES — With a noon local tip on the West Coast, the New Orleans Pelicans started out Sunday’s game against the LA Clippers a little slow. After an 18-point first quarter, things started to pick up.

Boosted by the return to the lineup of forward Zion Williamson, the Pelicans picked up the pace for a 112-91 victory over the Clippers on Sunday afternoon.

“I think based on the Central time zone; we were waking up from our nap,” Pelicans guard CJ McCollum joked after the win. “We got some stops and were able to get and run. It made the game easier.”

Williamson was back in the lineup after missing the past two games with a right posterior hip and lower back contusion from a fall he took Oct. 23 against the Utah Jazz. Williamson missed the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime in that game.

He was back in form against the Clippers, scoring 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds and seven assists, one off his career high.

“Glad to have him back,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “When he touches the ball — I’ve said it before — he makes the right play. Whether it’s a score for himself or finding his teammates and kicking it out and continuing to move. He was fantastic.”

During the 2020-21 season, the Pelicans, then under coach Stan Van Gundy, shifted to using Williamson more as a point guard and let him control the offense and use his natural playmaking skills.

Since then, Williamson said he’s seen his playmaking skills continue to grow.

“I would say before, I think I would rush it sometimes trying to see the open pass,” Williamson said. “But now I just let it develop. I let the defense kind of shift towards me as soon as I see them take that shift. We got some special shooters on this team, and I’m able to find them and they knock the shots down.”

Williamson was making plays off his drives and getting possessions going early thanks to something Green and his staff saw in the Clippers defense.

“The thing that we did today, which we…