The New Orleans Pelicans won't have their All-Star forward Brandon Ingram to finish their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday. The 23-year-old was ejected in the midway part of the fourth period after getting called for a flagrant foul 2 after a block shot attempt over Thunder's Isaiah Roby.
Ingram actually succeeded in rejecting Roby underneath, but the brutal force of his swipe caught the Thunder reserve's head and sent him crumbling to the floor. Here's the play in question in Pelicans – Thunder, which caused BI to get thrown out of the ballgame.
In-game announcers were quick to point out that Brandon Ingram's hit appeared unintentional and argued that he actually caught the ball first before making contact with Isaiah Roby. But the officials obviously did not see it that way, especially after seeing how hard Roby hit the deck afterwards, and cut Ingram's night short for the Pelicans.
Prior to the ejection, Ingram was having a fine game and was mostly responsible for the Pelicans' big lead over the home team. He had 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from deep, along with seven rebounds, two assists, and one block in 26 minutes.
Ingram, meanwhile, is enjoying a hot start to the 2020-21 campaign after signing a 5-year supermax extension worth $158 million in the offseason. He was named Western Conference Player of the Week after notching 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in his first four outings for the Pelicans.
The NBA, meanwhile, will likely take a closer look at the incident and monitor closely if Ingram deserves further sanctions which might affect the Pelicans. As everyone can see, the early weeks of this unusual NBA season have featured wild fluctuations in the level of play among the league's teams. If Ingram is suspended for multiple games, that could upset the fragile balance the Pels are trying to establish.