Currently positioned as the seventh seed in the Western Conference standings, the New Orleans Pelicans are looking to capitalize on these final five games of the regular season and lock up a spot for a play-in appearance or, better yet, a playoff position. Brandon Ingram‘s latest showing against the Nuggets helped inch the club closer to clinching the latter.

With their triumph over Denver, NOLA (39-38) and the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns are separated by just two wins. On the contrary, however, they are ahead of the 12-seeded Utah Jazz by only three wins.

With this, each game seems to count more and more as we inch closer to the conclusion of the regular season, and the standings could not be more tightly contested.

However, following the Pelicans' big win over the top-seeded Nuggets, Brandon Ingram noted that while the team is keeping an eye on the conference leaderboard, the team's mindset heading into this final stretch run is more about trying to be the best version of themselves.

“We look at the standings every single day, you know. Somebody loses a game they might go all the way to the tenth spot. Somebody wins a game they go up. It's something that we're looking at, but our focus is on ourselves right now. Just trying to continue to get better and build for these playoffs,” Ingram said.

Brandon Ingram finished the game against the Nuggets with a tremendous stat line of 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. With this, it marked the second triple-double of his NBA career and his second triple-double in the last seven days.