Pelicans, Brandon Ingram Disrobed the Kings 125-95

On Wednesday, the New Orleans Pelicans recorded a convincing home victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Brandon Ingram scored 33 points, and a stingy Pelicans defense gave New Orleans Pelicans a huge 125-95 win over the De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings. 

The contentious battle between the NBA Playoff Play-In rivals stood 65-61 at halftime. New Orleans pulled away in the second half to win and leap four games ahead of Sacramento in the playoff race as the Western Conference's 10th seed. The Pelicans defense held the Kings to 13 points to close out the victory in the fourth quarter. After their second straight 30-point victory, the Pelicans are now 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the 9th seed. 

INGRAM FEASTED!

Mar 2, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram (14) reacts to a play during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Ingram feasted from midrange and perimeter, but it won't be easy to post such an efficient stat line consistently. He was 15-19 from the field with only three shots within five feet of the rim. Though Ingram only shot two free throws, Coach Green still admired the "beauty in it. Not only did he get it going, but the guys were all looking for him. Every time he got the ball, they were looking to run plays just to feed him, and it's beautiful to watch the connectivity of our guys. He is capable of doing that night in and night out. It's good to see him have a big game like he did tonight."

The Pelicans shot only 12 free throws. New Orleans dominated the Kings in every aspect of the game. They shot a 59.1% rate compared to Sacramento's 39.3%, grabbed 12 more rebounds (50 total), caused 11 turnovers, and won the fast break battle 26 to 10. The bench, led by Naji Marshall's 17 points in 16 minutes, scored 31 points on the night. It was a team win credited to defensive effort and playing with great energy.

PELICANS TEAM EFFORT

Mar 2, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (5) dunks the ball against against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of Not On Herb, Green said Jones is "getting more confident, and when he has games like this, it triggers everybody. He was on Fox pretty much all game guarding him, had a couple of big blocks, and he hit some threes down the stretch, which were huge for us. He's continued to improve. His confidence is growing, and you know we're blessed to have him."

Jones credits Green's consistent messaging even at halftime. "He just tells us to come out and not let the energy drop. That's been a point of emphasis for us throughout the season. We've been coming out in the second half kind of lackadaisical, and tonight we just came out with a ton of energy played very hard on the offensive end. Shots were falling, (and) we came out and got the win." 

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS

Mar 2, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell (15) during the third quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

Ingram agreed that "It's the voice in the locker room. Everybody had a sense of urgency in that third quarter, and (we) came out and played really good on the defensive end, and we got some easy buckets offensively…. We picked up the sense of urgency in the second half. That's what it was going to come down to, whoever played defense first. Everybody was doing good on the offensive end, but it was important for us to pick up the urgency on the defensive end, get some easy buckets and stop them on the fast break."

It feels as if these Pelicans are learning on the fly how good they can be this season. They've addressed the team's questions and came from the All-Star break refreshed. They can play and not overthink things. Sometimes, it's just about being comfortable enough to enjoy the moment and have fun in the games of life and basketball. 

PELS HAVING FUN

Mar 2, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes (10) reacts after dunking the ball against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

As Ingram explained, "It's fun to play here right now. Willie (Green) is setting the table for us to go out there and be really, really good offensively and defensively, and we're just going out there and just trying to be really, really good every night. Be the best version of ourselves and these last three games. It's been happening." 

Next, the Pelicans will face tests against more accomplished contenders. Friday, New Orleans will host Utah at 7 PM CT Mar. 4 before meeting the Denver (Mar. 6) and Memphis (Mar. 8) on the road.

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