New Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades in 110-104 Win Over the Heat

Zion Williamson had a nice bounce-back game after being somewhat exposed against the Dallas Mavericks in the previous outing.

After getting his shot blocked continuously by the Mavericks, Zion was able to shoot 7 of 9 for 17 points, while grabbing six rebounds and providing his usual highlight reel dunks, including this one that he was able to corral off the backboard.

Zion did add another three turnovers, which has been a problem of late. It was nice to see Zion be able to play 32 minutes in his third game in four days. Williamson looked somewhat hobbled and fatigued against Dallas, so it was good to see him bounce back for a solid game against the Heat.

Brandon Ingram had a roller coaster of a night. For most of the game Ingram was unable to hit anything. The young All-Star admitted as much saying “It felt like I went 0 for 20…”

Ingram was’t far off. The lanky forward missed 15 of his first 17 shots on a night that would have been forgettable if not for the end.

Ingram suddenly found the range in the final three minutes of the game, hitting a tough jumper before knocking down a 3-pointer that may have saved the game for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ingram has been scoring like a young Durant lately, and showed a scorer’s mentality and no fear late in the game, exactly what you want from your Alpha-offensive player.

It was ultimately a night Ingram would like to forget, but sometimes it’s not how many shots you hit, but when you hit them.

Ingram came up big when it mattered and was able to get the New Orleans Pelicans a win that they desperately needed.

Nicolo Melli is another of the New Orleans Pelicans’ bench players who has been struggling. Coming into the game, Melli had hit just 4 of 23 from behind the arc over his last four games for a dismal 17.3 percent.

Not much changed for Melli last night, as he hit just 2 of 7 from long-range for nine points.

Melli did add six assists and three rebounds, so it wasn’t a terrible night, but Melli needs to start knocking down these open looks.

He is the beneficiary of a ton of wide-open shots with so much attention paid to Williamson and Ingram, but if he doesn’t knock them down, Melli doesn’t have much value to the team.

This will be something to monitor for the rest of the season heading into the offseason, as the New Orleans Pelicans may look to find another stretch four (someone like free agent Danilo Gallinari) who can spread the floor and knock them down more consistently.