Syracuse, N.Y. – When Marek Dolezaj drew a chest-collapsing charge on Zion Williamson during Syracuse’s upset win over No. 1-ranked Duke on Jan. 14, it looked like Dolezaj had been a one-man version of the running of the bulls.

Actually, though, it wasn’t the collsion with Williamson that inflicted the most damage on Dolezaj. It was the end result, according to Sam Sampere, lab manager at Syracuse University’s Department of Physics.

“You’ve heard the phrase that it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the landing?,’’ Sampere said. “It’s the sudden stop. The deceleration.’’

Sampere studied video of the collision involving Williamson, Duke’s 6-foot-8, 280-pound freshman, and Dolezaj, Syracuse’s slender 6-10, 180-pound sophomore, and provided data to help understand the force that Williamson delivered, how Dolezaj absorbed that impact before flying backwards and landing on the court.

Hahahaha Homie got knocked out after taking a charge from Zion Williamson 😂😂 He a Truck 🚛 pic.twitter.com/P9gP03XtZl — VERSACEBOYENT (@VersaceBoyEnt2) January 15, 2019

Sampere broke down the video frame-by-frame, plotting the distance from the collision to the point where Dolezaj crashed to the floor.

He determined that Dolezaj was thrown 1.8 meters -- roughly 6 feet -- when Williamson crashed into him. Video shows that Dolezaj’s feet came completely off the ground.

Sampere calculated that Dolezaj’s acceleration to go from point to point was 1.53 Gs (a G equals 9.8 meters per second squared).

“Actually, 1.5 Gs is not a gigantic acceleration,’’ Sampere said. “We just had the Daytona 500 last weekend. Those drivers are subjected to forces of about two Gs, and that’s routinely for 500 miles.’’

So why does Denny Hamlin hop out of his race car, smiling and jumping up and down, after 500 miles and Dolezaj lay writhing on the court?

Sampere noted the nature of the hit that Williamson delivered.

“Zion is crouched and nails Dolezaj with a shoulder and a knee to the midsection,’’ Sampere said, pointing to the video. “Zion is stable and he’s got all his weight going through his hips. He delivers this blow with his shoulder. It’s a solid, blunt object. It’s a strong part of the body, and it’s supported throughout his skeleton.

“Zion, on the other hand, doesn’t feel too much even though it’s the same force on him that it is on Dolezaj,’’ he said. “That’s because of how it’s distributed through Zion’s body. He doesn’t feel anything.’’

Sampere estimated that force of the collision was about 550 pounds with a defenseless Dolezaj absorbing all of that force.

In other words, Williamson was the windshield. Dolezaj was the bug.

In addition, though, was the end result. While Williamson caused Dolezaj’s body to accelerate, the wood court caused Dolezaj to decelerate.

“What really hurt him was the collision he made with the ground,’’ Sampere said. “The ground doesn’t give way. That’s where he got hurt.’’

Sampere may be onto something. After the game, Dolezaj complained more about his lower back and tailbone, which had hit the court, than he did his chest.

One publication, ClutchPoints.com, surmised that Williamson had hit Dolezaj with the force of Jeep, but Sampere said that was only accurate to a point.

“Zion weighs 280 pounds, so he’s a big guy, but a Jeep? A Jeep weighs about 3,300 pounds,’’ Sampere said. “A Jeep at that momentum would be going .2 meters per second, or about a half a mile an hour.’’

Plenty of time for Dolezaj to establish position and draw the charge.

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