New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for revenge win vs. Warriors

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Warriors: Grades for the wings

Another rare off-night for Brandon Ingram, who has now gone three consecutive games without having his typical impact.

Much like in his first outing against Golden State, I didn’t think that the New Orleans Pelicans wing was bad. He just wasn’t as good as he’s been all season and, when your team almost always needs you to be at your best, that difference is very noticeable.

Ingram had a better time from the three-point line than inside the arc, making a trifecta of triples. His usual midrange jumpers weren’t falling and, again, Andrew Wiggins deserves plaudits. He made Ingram work hard to get to his spots.

In terms of playmaking, I thought this was mostly a good game from Ingram. He didn’t make any spectacular reads, but he pushed the ball with good pace and generally found the open man. Ingram ended the game with five assists and zero turnovers.

Now, let’s see what his status for the upcoming road trip looks like. Ingram headed back to the locker room after spraining his ankle and didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter.

Naji Marshall was really good for the second straight night against the Warriors.

I love how the former Xavier man always looks to attack the rim with aggression. This puts so much pressure on opposing defenses. Marshall is then either strong enough to draw free throws or finish, as well as smart enough to make the right pass.

Marshall was one of the few Pelicans players looking to punish the Warriors on every trip down the court. This is something the Pels always need, but especially with Brandon Ingram out.

He finished with ten points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal. A complete performance for New Orleans’ do-it-all role player.

After the Pelicans’ loss on Monday to the Warriors, I wrote that James Johnson “mostly did what he was supposed to do but just failed to put the ball in the hoop.”

That is, he had the right ideas in mind but finished 3-of-10 from the field. He could have probably taken less shots, sure, but he also should have made more of them. In Tuesday’s rematch, Johnson once again executed correctly and had better luck finishing this time around.

Johnson ended with six points, adding value with his drives to the rim that often combine scoring with playmaking. He was also solid on defense and was an important presence on the floor to close out the win.

One thing to watch: his three-point shooting. Johnson’s ability to stretch the floor has been inconsistent throughout his long NBA career and we’re once again seeing that. He has made just three of his last 25 threes.

To my surprise, James Nunnally got a little bit of run against the Warriors.

Nunnally was preferred over Wenyen Gabriel, who has played more as of late, and Wes Iwundu on the wing. The international basketball journeyman was signed to a two-way contract to provide the Pelicans with some three-point shooting, but he failed to do so versus Golden State.

Nunnally missed both of his three-pointers, with one of them hitting the side of the backboard. He did have two decent assists, though.