Brandon Ingram scored 36 points without attempting a 3-point shot in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 122-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
It was an old-school performance.
All 23 of Ingram’s field-goal attempts came from inside the arc. He made 13 of them. He had his second-highest scoring output of the season by exclusively attacking the rim and feathering in midrange makes.
Ingram stood toe to toe with Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, arguably the NBA’s best tough 2-point shot maker. Leonard scored 40 points on 15-of-28 shooting. He was sublime. But Ingram’s Pelicans still prevailed.
“If you want to be the best, you have to go against the best,” Ingram said. “And you have to beat them. That’s one of the things that was in my head tonight. Just trying to get this win tonight. Not individually. But together as a team.”
The Pelicans have won seven of their last eight games, a stretch of play that has caused them to jump to seventh place in the West. Ingram is the biggest reason they are pointed in the right direction. He has been their primary initiator on offense during this run. He has been a sound decision-maker for a team that was struggling to score the ball after Zion Williamson got hurt in early January.
“From a mentality standpoint, I’m stepping on the floor with a super focus,” Ingram said. “Knowing the goal and attacking the goal every time I’m out there. The goal is to win. I’m just trying to do everything I can to help us win, whether it’s offensively or defensively.”
Ingram scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Clippers tried defending him in the pick-and-roll by having their center drop into the paint and wall of the rim. Ingram exploited that coverage by making midrange shots. With 4:24 remaining, he hit a 16-footer. Thirty-four seconds later, he made a 13-footer. Forty seconds after that, he got a 14-footer to go down.
On the Pelicans’ next possession, the Clippers sent two defenders to stop Ingram. Ingram rose up and fired a cross-court pass to Trey Murphy, who took two dribbled to the rim and scored. That put the Pelicans up seven points with 2:30 to go.
Brandon Ingram hit three straight middies in the fourth. Clippers doubled. He comes off the screen and throws this to Trey Murphy. pic.twitter.com/m3MvVFmKmG
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) April 2, 2023
“Every night, he’s putting us on his shoulders and making play after play,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Not just scoring. But getting his teammates involved. To finish it off for him, it’s really about winning. His mindset is whatever he needs to do, he’ll do. It’s great to see. I firmly believe — and the rest of us believe — B.I. is one of the best players in the NBA.”
The Pelicans attempted 17 3-pointers, their fewest in a game this season. New Orleans would not have won without excellent foul shooting. It made 31 of 35 free throws. Ingram went 10 of 11 at the foul line.
“You guys can see that he gets the ball and he’s going,” Green said. “When he’s playing like that, he’s hard to stop.”
Ingram is playing some of the best basketball of his career with the regular season about to conclude. The Pelicans, who are half a game behind the sixth-place Clippers, are fighting to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament — or even make the playoffs outright.
“Just keep chopping wood,” Green said.
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