For a worrying stretch of time, the New Orleans Pelicans looked dead in the water without the services of their best player, Zion Williamson, who has missed their last 39 games, including their Thursday night tilt against the Denver Nuggets. In fact, they even lost 10 straight games at one point, almost knocking them off the playoff picture entirely. However, Brandon Ingram has put his foot down, refusing to go quietly into the good night with one strong performance after another.
On Thursday, Ingram simply had his way with the Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets. In 37 minutes of action, the Pelicans' star forward tallied 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in a vital 107-88 victory that puts them at eighth in the Western Conference standings at the moment.
As a result of his latest triple-double, Brandon Ingram managed to etch his name even deeper into the Pelicans' franchise lore. Ingram became just the second player in franchise history to finish multiple games with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 10+ assists, joining Chris Paul as those who have accomplished the feat for the New Orleans franchise, per NBA History.
Ingram has simply taken his game to the next level in recent weeks. On March 23, he tallied his first-ever career triple double against the Charlotte Hornets, a 30-point, 11-rebound, and 10-assist effort.
Interestingly enough, despite playing six seasons for the New Orleans franchise, which went by the Hornets during his stint, Chris Paul tallied both of his 30/10/10 games in the same season (2008-09), doing so on January 14 and March 11, 2009. These were the only 30/10/10 games of Paul's career as well.
For the Pelicans to avoid the ignominy of missing the playoffs, Ingram will need to continue playing at this level. There remains plenty of uncertainty regarding the possibility of a Zion Williamson return later this season, his gravity-defying stunts on Thursday night notwithstanding, so BI will need to shoulder a heavy offensive burden similar to their predicament last season.
The Pelicans also have such a tough slate to end the season, facing the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, and Minnesota Timberwolves in their final five games, making such performances from Ingram a must if they want to cement their status as, at the very least, a play-in team.
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