Is Brandon Ingram playing tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers?

Tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans (33-35) will battle the Los Angeles Lakers (33-35) to try and untangle the three-way tie that exists at ninth place in the Western Conference.

With where both these two teams exist in the standings, this game is of the utmost importance, and for the Pelicans, they are going to want to have as many available bodies as possible.

Despite being one of the most injury-ravaged teams in the association, the team has been getting healthier of late. As over the last couple of games, they have welcomed back the likes of Jonas Valanciunas, Josh Richardson, and, most recently, Larry Nance Jr. to the lineup.

However, even with this string of good news, the one question that sits on everyone’s mind is the status of Brandon Ingram, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury he suffered in the team’s win against the Dallas Mavericks.

As of the most recent reporting, it looks like Ingram is questionable for tonight’s contest, which in layman’s terms, usually means he’s got a 50/50 shot of participating tonight, depending on how team shootaround and warmups goes later today.

Before leaving in the second quarter of the game against the Mavericks, Ingram had been on a heater of late, averaging 28 PPG/4.9 RPG/4.7 APG on FG/3PT/FT shooting splits of 50.2%/38.3%/84.9% over his last 13 games. No matter how you slice it, having that type of production back in your lineup is always going to be a massive plus for your team.

Outside of Ingram, the team will continue to be without Zion Williamson (hamstring), Jose Alvarado (tibia), and E.J. Liddell (knee). For those wondering, this game will mark the team’s 33rd straight contest without Williamson in the lineup.

As for the Pelicans’ adversary, the Lakers, they will once again be without LeBron James (foot) and Mo Bamba (ankle). Anthony Davis (foot) is also listed as probable, which means that he should be good to go for tonight, especially considering the gravity of tonight’s game as it pertains to the team’s playoff/play-in chances.

The Pelicans and Lakers are tied for ninth in the West (the Lakers currently hold the tiebreaker), but both teams are only 2.5 games out from the fifth seed in the conference.

To understand the inner-workings of the NBA’s Play-In tournament and why this ninth-seed means so much for both teams, be sure to check out this post right here.