Get ready to witness the TNT debut of Zion Williamson in what is shaping up to be a jam-packed fireworks show of dazzling dunks and highlights galore between the 20-30 New Orleans Pelicans and the visiting 42-7 Milwaukee Bucks, live at 7:30 p.m. ET.

So the narrative (Cliche’) of the unstoppable force (Zion) clashing with the unmoveable force (Giannis Antetokounmpo) is probably the most applicable mantra in the book to describe this one. The league’s best team (record-wise) who also display the league’s 2nd-best offense and best defense takes a trip to the Big Easy to take on a different foe than the one they faced back in early December, as they’ll look to go 2 – 0 against a young, impressionable Pelicans team whose limit is anything higher than the sky.

Of course, the Pels find themselves near the bottom of the pack in the seasonal marathon that is the Western Conference. That might be reason enough for David Griffin to wave the white flag on a season that sees his Pelicans a whole 10 games under an even and commendable record. And had it not been for the sudden Goliathic ascension of ROY award candidate Zion Williamson, that may have well been the case on an otherwise demure year.

His beastly 6-6, 284-lb frame has been the mismatch most coaches can’t maneuver around, and it’s only a matter of time before he really strings together his offensive repertoire against the different defensive man-to-man and zone coverages that opposing coaching staffs will throw at him on a nightly schedule to try and counter his explosion and size. So far in his first six tastes of NBA pace, he’s been just that: a demon on the boards that is insufferably difficult to box out for both offensive and defensive rebounds, and a bulldozer when he ducks his head and drives to the rim.

Now, the singular question persists: can you do that against the likes of the tallest and most defensively efficient team in the league in the Milwaukee Bucks? Going into this one, the Pels are 4-3 in their last seven games and with Zion, a respectable 3-3. And as reality itself suggests, the Pelicans aren’t as far from prosperity as you might expect. Positioned at 11th in the Western standings, they’re only a meek five games out of that eighth seed, and in a division as topsy-turvy as the Southwest, don’t be surprised if you look up one day and see the Pelicans taking over a playoff seed later this year.

It looks like playing with the uptempo pace of Williamson is to be an acquired taste when spacing the floor enough so that Jrue Holiday (hypothetically, if he isn’t dealt before Thursday’s trade deadline), and Brandon Ingram can help make easy offense on the wings and atop the key. But for an offense that’s pieces are spending their first year together, they haven’t done all that bad, peeking just outside a spot of the top-15 most offensively-efficient teams in the league.

And In case you haven’t been watching these Pelicans, their latest starting lineup of Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Derrick Favors posted a +29.1 Net Rating in 73 minutes of combined action.

But do remember: this Bucks team is good. Like, really, really, really good. And the most shocking thing? They are proven winners when Antetokounmpo doesn’t even suit up (Don’t worry – he’s playing, that’s just for dramatic effect) and though he has the obvious advantage in overall skill as opposed to Williamson’s growing prowess, tonight is still must-see television for both casual and hardcore fans of the game as they’ll go head-to-head for the first of probably 500 times in their careers.

This is certainly an opportunity for the good to get better when the Pelicans face the best defensive team in basketball, but who knows, on TNT primetime nights, the unthinkable happens more often than not.