New Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades in 122-114 Loss to Lakers

Forwards

Zion was a force of nature Sunday night, pouring in a career-high 35 points on 12 of 16 shooting in just 33 minutes, including a couple of his thunderous signature dunks.

The superstar rookie also grabbed seven rebounds and was able to hit 11 of his 13 free throw attempts. Zion’s only problem was turnovers.

The rookie coughed it up six times and looked to be fatigued late in the game after carrying the Pelicans for three quarters.

Zion also needs to improve his footwork on defense, as James was able to blow by him a few times on a night when the Pelicans really could have used his size and strength against LeBron.

In the end, it was actually too much Zion and not enough of everyone else. The rookie did his part but didn’t get much help from his teammates.

Brandon Ingram struggled mightily against the Lakers on a night when the Pelicans really needed his offense.

Ingram shot 5 of 23 from the floor including just 1 of 9 from 3-point range. This had to be a disappointing night for Ingram, who had been playing well enough to start drawing some lofty comparisons.

Ingram did a decent job trying to slow down LeBron when he finally got his turn. His height seemed to bother James slightly, but Ingram also racked up the fouls, including a foolish touch foul late in the game that happened as the shot clock expired.

Ingram was clearly trying to press against his old team and had a bad night, but the young All-Star showed heart and kept after it even though his shots were not falling.

Nicolo Melli has had the hot hand of late, but he couldn’t hit the ocean against the Lakers on Sunday. Melli shot just 1 of 7 from 3-point range, ending the night with 10 points.

Melli has been getting a lot of open looks with all of the attention given to Zion and Ingram and up until last night he was knocking them down with regularity.

Melli didn’t add much on the defensive end. This was a night when the New Orleans Pelicans needed everyone to step up and try to slow down LeBron.

Melli is not a great individual defender but his size might have at least deterred James, who did whatever he wanted against the smaller Pelicans’ defenders.

Melli did manage to get in Dwight Howard’s head and got the Lakers’ center to commit a few silly fouls out of frustration.

But Melli’s real job is to knock down shots and he didn’t do it. Ball, Ingram and Melli shot a combined 3 of 23 from 3-point range, which was the difference in the game.