Without Brandon Ingram, Pelicans Fall to Magic 108-102

New Orleans was without its star player and fell to the Orlando for another home loss.

A slow start and lack of support behind CJ McCollum doomed the New Orleans Pelicans to a crushing 108-102 home loss to the Orlando Magic. New Orleans scored only 17 first-quarter points which allowed Orlando to run up a 13-point lead. McCollum eventually tied the game at 73 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter before Orlando pulled away for a rare road victory.

The Magic had five players post more than a dozen points. Orlando rookie Cole Anthony led the Magic with 19 points followed by Wendell Carter Jr. (13 points), Franz Wagner (15), Gary Harris (16), and Terrance Ross (14). It was only the Magic’s 10th win away from home all season.

Only Jonas Valancuinas (30) and Herb Jones (15) posted more than ten points in support of McCollum’s 32-point, 8-assists, 4-rebound night. The Pelicans lost the rebounding battle, committed more fouls, and only made seven three-pointers. New Orleans had only four fast-break points, the lowest total of the season.

Valancuinas admitted, “We did a poor job to start again. We weren’t making open threes, and we were doing a poor job on defense. We couldn’t score too. The shots just weren’t falling, but that’s on us.”

Mar 9, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (17) celebrates a play against the Orlando Magic during the fourth quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

“To see a guy, a main guy (Ingram), going down, it’s bad," Valanciunas said. "We need everybody healthy and able to perform their best. Now, we can’t change much. We have to be able to step up and perform as we did before he went down. It’s not an excuse that Brandon is not playing. We need to step up and perform.”

Green knows there is no replacing Ingram in the lineup. The Pelicans are 2-14 without him but will need a stopgap option to step up in the next week. Ingram (right hamstring) will be sidelined at least 7-10 days after an MRI.

Mar 9, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) shoots a free throw against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

“When you get down to any team, especially without the scoring we have with Brandon, you have to scratch, fight and claw for everything,” Green said.

The Pelicans are still in control of the 10th seed and final NBA Playoffs Play-in spot in the Western Conference. New Orleans has three home games in the next six days. It will be up to McCollum to lead the team until Ingram returns and Green knows there will be adjustments required.

“When you lose Brandon for a significant time, we have to find some scoring," Green said. "We just have to make some adjustments in general. I don’t know whether that’s the starting lineup, the rotation, or what that is at this moment. But we have to make adjustments.”

The Pelicans are back in the Smoothie King Center on Friday to host LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets.