New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for important win vs. Nuggets

The New Orleans Pelicans picked up a much-needed boost with a close 113-108 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.The Pels beat the fifth-placed Nuggets on the road in a nailbiter that went to the last seconds of the fourth quarter. Ultimately, New Orleans prevailed and got their 18th win of the season, breaking a streak of two consecutive losses.

Denver was always expected to be a tough test for Stan Van Gundy’s squad. They entered the game with the second-best offensive rating in the league and, of course, with a surefire MVP contender in Nikola Jokic.

The Pelicans did well to disrupt Jokic throughout the contest, even though he still finished with a triple-double. Still, it felt to me like Steven Adams did a solid job ensuring that Jokic’s interventions in the game were intermittent and not a constant barrage.

Meanwhile, New Orleans was led to victory by Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. The Pels were without Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick for Sunday’s win. Ball was out with a right hip flexor strain, while Redick hasn’t played since the start of the month due to a heel injury. In fact, the latter might not suit up in a Pels uniform at all anymore with the trade deadline coming up on March 25.

Here are my grades for the Nuggets game, starting with my personal MVP:

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Denver Nuggets: Grading the best player

A tremendous night for Brandon Ingram, who was a constant threat during his 36 minutes on the floor and then closed out the game for the Pelicans.

To get this out of the way, Ingram absolutely stuffed the stat sheet. He dropped a cool 30 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out eight assists.

This was Ingram back to his best, showing why he should be considered one of the best three-level scorers in the entire NBA. Ingram can drive to the rim despite his slender physique, play in the mid-range, and has constantly improved his three since arriving in New Orleans.

More importantly, this felt like an important moment in Ingram’s season and perhaps even career. Ingram has been criticized at times this year for his uninspiring play in the closing moments of a game, but he put those questions to rest—at least for one night—against Denver.

Although he had a big stroke of luck by getting to repeat two missed free throws due to consecutive lane violations, Ingram also had a crucial and-one jumper in the clutch. He followed that up by drawing two free throws on an aggressive drive that helped seal the win for New Orleans.