How the Memphis Grizzlies unlocked the formula to containing Pelicans star Zion Williamson

Class was in session inside the FedExForum on Saturday night.

One of the NBA's hardest formulas to figure out this season has been guarding New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson, but the Memphis Grizzlies may have cracked the code.

As Williamson got the ball at the top of the key, he was guarded by 6-foot-7 Dillon Brooks. While Brooks has the height advantage over the 6-6 Williamson, Brooks weighs 225 pounds, and Williamson is listed at 284 pounds. Williamson turned his back to the basket and took a couple of hard dribbles while moving closer to the basket and pounding his shoulder and forearm into the chest of Brooks. By the time Williamson turned and attempted to finish a layup around the basket, he was swarmed by Grizzlies defenders like bees in a honeycomb.

This defensive strategy played a major role in the Grizzlies' 116-101 win against the Pelicans, and holding Williamson to one of his worst games of the season. The Pelicans star finished with 20 points on 6-for-16 shooting and a career-high nine turnovers. He's averaging 26 points on 60% shooting this season. This was the fourth time Williamson was held below 50%.

"We just kept playing physical with him, and then kept trying to have two bodies on him when he goes to the rim," Brooks said.

If teams play a smaller defender against Williamson, he will punish them with his size and elevate around the rim for easy baskets. If teams choose to use bigger defenders, they're typically too slow or not agile enough.

Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid are two of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and all Williamson did was score 43 and 36 points, respectively, in those two games ahead of the Memphis matchup.

The Grizzlies' plan wasn't centered around one player. Brooks got the primary assignment because of his ability to be physical and stay in front of players. When Williamson was able to finally power his way through Brooks, he was met at the rim by either Jaren Jackson Jr. or Steven Adams.

"Our team defense was locked in, and (Jackson) being a great team defender for us with tonight's gameplan, I thought he flourished in it," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said.

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Jackson finished the game with six blocks and three steals. Adams had two blocks and two steals. Overall, the Grizzlies had a season-high 14 steals and 11 blocks.

The defensive strategy used by the Grizzlies worked because Pelicans star Brandon Ingram wasn't in the lineup. Memphis guarded Herbert Jones with Jackson, but Jackson often sagged off and operated as a help defender for Brooks on Williamson. Jones is shooting 28.4% on 3-pointers this season.

Adams also often kept two feet in the paint while guarding Jonas Valanciunas. Memphis gave Jones and Valanciunas opportunities to knock down 3-pointers, but the duo shot 1-for-5.

What the Grizzlies did against Williamson isn't a one-game sample size. Memphis used a similar defensive strategy in the last meeting against the Pelicans and held Williamson to 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting. The 14 points is still his second-lowest scoring effort of the season.

In that game, a 132-111 Grizzlies win, C.J. McCollum didn't play, but Ingram started before leaving in the second quarter. When the Pelicans have their full lineup, this will be a tougher task to complete.

And that's not to say it wasn't tough on Saturday. Williamson still forced Brooks to be in foul trouble. When Brooks picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, Williamson had six points. After the Grizzlies switched Jackson onto Williamson briefly and later brought in David Roddy, Williamson finished the third quarter with 16 points.

"He's a generational talent," Roddy said. "Super strong and athletic, so hard to keep in front of him. The help defense was great."

The NBA is a copy-cat league. Many teams may try this formula of guarding Williamson with smaller quick defenders and building a wall behind them, but you need the personnel to execute it. Memphis just so happens to have one of the league's premier wing defenders and a first-team all-defensive big man standing behind him.

And besides, not too many wing defenders want the Williamson matchup. Brooks couldn't wait for it.

"I think that's just how he's wired, how he's built," Jenkins said. "... Definitely a trait that's rare, and he's got it."

The Bucks did something similar when they guarded Jrue Holiday on Williamson and had Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez behind him. Williamson finished with 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting in that loss.

Maybe the Pelicans eventually will find their counter, but as the Grizzlies and their divisional foe battle for Western Conference supremacy, that defensive advantage is yielding good results for Memphis.

"It takes a team effort for sure to guard him," Brooks said. "He's pretty quick for his physique, and he can jump out the gym. It's a unique matchup. It's different than anybody in the league."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How the Memphis Grizzlies defense made Zion Williamson struggle