Zion Williamson's ridiculous ACC Tournament puts him in elite company with Kevin Durant

Zion Williamson’s return came with some doubt. Perhaps he would play with a tenuous approach, for fear of re-injuring himself and jeopardizing his NBA draft stock. Perhaps his knee injury would hinder the explosiveness that makes him such a special player. Even with Duke heading into the ACC Tournament title game, Blue Devils legend Christian Laettner had doubts about how Williamson would play, with Laettner fearing fatigue would get to Williamson.

Yeah, right.

One game at a time, Williamson erased those doubts, with a set of performances that put him in elite company with Kevin Durant.

Williamson averaged 27 points per game and 10 rebounds during the ACC Tournament. Williams and Durant, who played at Texas in the Big 12,  are the only freshman to average at least 25 and 10 in a conference tournament over the last 20 seasons with a minimum of three games played.

That’s company Williamson wouldn’t mind keeping.

And perhaps Williamson described his performance best, when he told reporters, “Killers kill,” after the Duke’s 73-63 win over Florida State in the ACC championship game. Williamson played a season-high 40 minutes with 21 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. He was 7 of 11 from the field.

That performance probably wasn’t even his best during the tournament. In a 74-73 win over UNC, Williamson put up 31 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 68 percent from the field in 35 minutes of play.

As usual, Williamson exceeded high expectations. He and Duke will enter the NCAA Tournament with a No. 1 seed and a target on their back. And yet, it’s impossible to doubt Williamson can again deliver. That’s all he seems to do.