The New Orleans Pelicans obliterated the Los Angeles Lakers at home, with the second half of the game largely amounting to glorified garbage time.
The Pels dominated the reigning NBA champions at the Smoothie King Center just a couple of days before the March 25 trade deadline. The much-anticipated contest fizzled out halfway through the third quarter and New Orleans ended up winning 111-128.
Under regular circumstances, this would’ve been a statement win for Stan Van Gundy’s squad, but not on this occasion. The Lakers were severely undermanned. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, and Jared Dudley didn’t suit up. James is expected to be out indefinitely with an ankle injury, whereas Davis underwent a brief warm-up but then got a first-row seat to the Pels’ blowout win.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans were still without Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick. Both of them might have played their last game in a Pelicans uniform, with Redick expected to be traded or bought out soon. Ball missed his second consecutive game with a hip injury, but the timing is certainly interesting with the former UCLA guard being one of the hottest names on the trade market.
Here are the player grades for the Pels’ win over the Lakers, starting with my personal MVP:
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Grading the best player
Another best player award for Brandon Ingram who had some sort of a revenge game against the team that drafted him into the NBA.
We’re now over a season removed from the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade that sent Ingram, among others, to the big easy; however, it seems like Ingram has not forgotten this slight. The former all-star is right at home in New Orleans and he showed the Lakers as much.
Ingram finished with 36 points on an efficient 14-of-21 from the field, draining four triples and also contributing four assists. The Lakers couldn’t stop him and, often, it was former teammate Kyle Kuzma bearing the brunt of Ingram’s dominance.
The Pels’ star made it rain from all over the court. He had some downright dirty pull-ups and fadeaways that Los Angeles had no answer for. That is now two straight games with at least 30 points for Ingram, who is averaging a career-high this season.