Willie Green believes Zion Williamson is "starting to find his rhythm" after his 33 points led the New Orleans Pelicans to a 124-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

Williamson went 11 of 12 from the field as the Pelicans moved to 10-9, taking advantage of the absence of reigning MVP Joel Embiid and ensuring the 76ers fell to 12-6.

Pelicans head coach Green is delighted with the play of Williamson, who has now scored at least 26 points and managed five assists in his last six games, saying: "He was great. He attacked the basket. Getting to the paint was something we were big on.

"He's been knocking off some rust. You can see he's getting better and better as we progress. He's starting to find his rhythm.

We're putting him in different situations and he's thriving, so it's fun to see."

With Embiid out through illness, Philadelphia struggled without their key man, and 76ers head coach Nick Nurse was frustrated with his team's display after the game.

"We cannot use that [Embiid's absence] as an excuse, and we won't," Nurse told reporters. "What put us in a big hole is we didn't go out and execute our defensive schemes the way we wanted to from the start of the game."