Southwestern Notes: Zion, Sengun, Lively, Popovich

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson showed no signs of injury in Friday's win over Indiana, in which he scored a season-high 34 points. However, he was placed on the team's injury report on Sunday with a right hamstring strain and has now missed two straight games, both of which were losses to the Pelicans, according to NOLA.com's Christian Clark.

“I don’t know exactly how it happened” Head coach Willie Green said of Williamson's injury, which was listed Monday as right thigh soreness. “He showed up. Said he felt something. We wanted to make sure we took a look.”

Already missing Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herbert JonesAnd Trey Murphy Due to long-term injuries, the Pelicans had to bring little-used reserves into the rotation Brandon Boston, Jeremiah Robinson EarlNewbie Yves Missiand re-signed Jaylen Nowell among those playing big minutes this week. The undermanned team has lost two straight games at home, losing to Atlanta by 15 points on Sunday and losing to Portland by 18 points on Monday.

While New Orleans desperately needs a healthy Williamson back on the court to end its slide, Green admitted Monday that he's not sure what the timeline is for his star forward's return.

“He wasn’t at the game.” Green told reporters. “On doctor’s orders. Because of the hamstring and quadriceps muscles. We kept him home tonight.”

Here's more from the Southwest:

• After signing a five-year, $185 million rookie extension the day before the start of the regular season, Rockets center Alperen Sengun got off to a slow start this fall, completing just 38.6% of his field goal attempts in six games. Before Monday's contest, he made it clear that he wasn't stressing about his low shooting percentage, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I'm not worried about it. These shots are easy shots for me.” Said Sengun. “These are recordings that I made every three years. So I think it’ll just come back and I’ll do these.” The big man kept his promise by scoring 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting in Monday's win over New York. He also contributed 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in his best game of the season so far.
• outsider center Dereck Lively IIwho missed Monday's loss to Indiana because of a right shoulder sprain, will undergo an MRI on that shoulder, the head coach said Jason Kidd told reporters. However, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon (Twitter link), sources expressed optimism that Lively's injury was not serious.
• Before his second game as Spurs' acting head coach, Mitch Johnson said Monday he was “not at liberty” to discuss it Gregg PopovichWhile expressing the possible timeline for his return, he downplayed the severity of Popovich's health issue. “At the moment his health is our top priority” Johnson said, according to ESPN's Michael C. Wright. “We support him 100 percent and I spoke to him last night. He is in good spirits. He’s doing well and we can’t wait to have him back.”