The New Orleans Pelicans ended 2020 with a blowout win over the OKC Thunder.
The New Orleans Pelicans were coming off a drubbing by the Suns, so it was nice to see them bounce back and get a blowout win over the OKC Thunder.
The Pelicans had seven players in double figures and used their bench in the second half to close out the Thunder, the NBA’s youngest team.
It was a strange game that featured a Brandon Ingram ejection (more on that in a second), a possible breakout from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and the entire Pelicans’ team on the plus side of the plus/minus column.
The OKC Thunder aren’t good but they aren’t going to roll over for anyone, so it was nice to see the Pelicans take care of business against a team they should beat.
It’s easy to overreact after such a big win.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram’s ejection was nonsense
Overreaction #1: The Brandon Ingram ejection was bull&#$*
Pardon my language.
I’m sure the sentence “The NBA is soft” will be written in every Pelicans’ blog today and for once, the bloggers are right.
Ingram was ejected in the 3rd quarter after attempting a block on Isaiah Roby in which he made contact with Roby’s head.
The play looked far more vicious than it was, as Ingram took a hard swipe at the ball that did catch some of Roby’s head (or at least his hair).
Ingram actually made contact with the ball first and caught Roby on the follow-through, a foul yes, but I didn’t even think it warranted a Flagrant 1, much less an ejection.
The refs may have been overreacting to some pushing and shoving at the other end on the previous play, but it was still an egregious overreaction to what was a simple basketball play.
I tweeted last night that it wouldn’t even have been a foul in 1992 and it probably wouldn’t. Look, I don’t want to go back to the ugly play from the 90’s but there has to be a middle ground between that and throwing players out for trying to block a shot.
The NBA should be embarrassed by that one. Luckily it didn’t matter, but I wish the NBA would take a look at what it has become. As much as I love the modern game, it would be nice to see the players allowed to actually play.