New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for 113-99 win over the Toronto Raptors

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Toronto Raptors: Player Grades for the small forwards

Small Forwards

Brandon Ingram finished the night a rebound short of his first triple-double and his offense was the big difference in the game.

Ingram did not have a good first half and looked a bit rattled. The Raptors had clearly made it their goal to take both Ingram and Zion Williamson out of the game as much as possible by running double teams at them every time they touched the ball.

This seemed to get to Ingram in the first half, as he had a couple of careless turnovers, one where he threw the ball blindly to the top of the key and there was no one there but OG Anunoby, who took it to the other end for an uncontested dunk.

But Ingram settled down in the second half and went to work, playing facilitator at times and others looking for his own shot.

He played under control, shook off the nerves and put the Pels on his shoulders on a night when Zion was not doing much.

Ingram finished with 11 assists (part of the reason Lonzo’s assist total was so low) and was the Pelicans’ go-to guy down the stretch.

It would have been nice to see Ingram get to the line more than twice, but he was the victim of some non-calls, as the refs were allowing a lot of contact in the paint.

Ingram showed he is the real deal, as he didn’t let a poor first half ruin his game. He’s the leader of this team and showed he is ready for that role.