New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for blowout loss vs. Warriors

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Timberwolves: Grades for the wings

A really weird game for Brandon Ingram, who played as passive as we’ve seen him be all season.

Ingram wasn’t necessarily bad and he mostly made the right decisions, but the New Orleans Pelicans could have used a lot more from their second franchise player. I thought that the one-time all-star would come into this game fired up after a poor outing against the Timberwolves; instead, he only took 11 shots and failed to assert himself.

Ingram tied his season-low in field goal attempts against the Warriors. He got to the line eight times and converted on all of his free throws, but it felt like Golden State never really had to worry about him. Part of that is also because Andrew Wiggins did a good job on Ingram defensively.

After two meh games, it’s time for him to have a big night.

I thought Naji Marshall was probably the Pelicans’ second-best player against the Warriors.

Marshall provided some punch off the bench and saw his production go up compared to the last few games. Part of that is also because the former Xavier man simply got more time on the court (27 minutes compared to averaging 19 over the previous three games).

The New Orleans wing was everything Ingram wasn’t. He was energetic and aggressive, constantly trying to slash to the rim and put pressure on the Warriors’ basket. It didn’t always work out, but Marshall had 12 points and also made a couple of threes.

Defensively, he looked engaged, but no one was capable of stopping Golden State on this given night.

A mixed night for James Johnson, who mostly did what he was supposed to do but just failed to put the ball in the hoop.

Johnson was 3-of-10 from the field, but he honestly should have probably ended up with double digit scoring. He was taking the right decisions most of the time, but when he got to the rack, he just wasn’t converting on his lay-ups. Johnson missed too many bunnies that could have made this game much closer.

A C grade might seem high for him, but his run with the Pels so far proves to me that Johnson is able to make these shots and add value to the team. He didn’t against the Warriors, but I thought he provided some good minutes—at least in theory—and that he will be a handy rotation player to avenge this loss.

Wenyen Gabriel, Wes Iwundu, and James Nunnally got about two minutes of garbage time, but didn’t do anything worth commenting on.