Ingram's Return Not Enough To Keep Pelicans From 6th Straight Defeat
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The return of Brandon Ingram after 29 games wasn't enough to help the New Orleans Pelicans stop their current losing skid.
The Pelicans squandered a 12-point first half lead and struggled to put the ball in the basket until it was too late on their way to a 111-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
New Orleans has now lost six straight, including four in a row at the Smoothie King Center.
Over the previous two seasons, the Pelicans had found some success in BI's first game back from injury, going 4-2 with Ingram averaging 20.8 points, 4.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.3 turnovers in those contests.
Unfortunately, on this night Ingram didn't come close to matching those marks. He finished the night with 13 points on 18 shots and committed four turnovers in 25 minutes.
Despite BI's slow start, the Pelicans were solid offensively to open the ballgame. New Orleans took a 34-26 after the first 12 minutes on the strength of eight points from CJ McCollum and 57 percent shooting from the floor.
New Orleans led 48-36 with under five minutes remaining in the half when the offense began to stall.
Minnesota closed the period on a 10-4 run, cutting the lead to six as the teams headed to the locker room.
The tide turned completely in the third quarter, with the Wolves outscoring the Pelicans 39-21, coming from six points down to take a six point lead into the final frame.
The Pelicans had scored 39 combined points over the second and third quarters on 34 percent shooting.
However, just as it appeared that Minnesota would coast to victory, Willie Green changed the entire complexion of the game.
After Jose Alvarado was called for both a personal and a technical foul midway through the fourth quarter, Green jumped to his player's defense and earned himself the first ejection of his young coaching career.
"I disagree with the foul and the technical that Jose got and I voiced my displeasure with it and pretty animated about how I felt about it," Green said during his postgame presser.
As Green headed to the locker room his team regrouped, the crowd went into a frenzy, and the Pelicans quickly put together an 8-0 run that narrowed the gap to just six points.
Ingram stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:41 remaining to bring New Orleans to within four, but that was as close as it would get.
CJ McCollum led the Pels with 25 points and eight assists. Jonas Valanciunas produced another efficient double-double, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota got a game-high 37 points from Anthony Edwards with Rudy Gobert adding 17 points and 12 boards. The Wolves had five players reach double figures and shot 48.8 percent on the night.
Overall, it was another uneven performance by the Pelicans on both ends of the floor.
New Orleans is 3-10 in the month of January with three games remaining. The schedule is no cakewalk with the Washington Wizards (22-26) at home on Saturday, followed by road trips to Milwaukee (31-17) and Denver (34-15).
The Pelicans are in danger of sliding from atop the conference standings to being in position to have to fight for a play-in spot.
With health never a guarantee, Willie Green needs his team to find the passion and urgency that they played with as they took the league by storm during the season's first two months.
