The NBA trade deadline is quickly approaching, and the Memphis Grizzlies are one of the many teams to keep an eye on. While Memphis is a playoff team when healthy, a season-ending injury to Ja Morant, along with several other injuries to top players, have them well out of the Western Conference race.
The New Orleans Pelicans dominated the Toronto Raptors 138-100, led by forward Brandon Ingram’s historic night. “To God be the glory.” Ingram humbly remarked on his performance. “When the work shows, and you come out here and just let it show and be free, that’s the best feeling ever. I felt good today waking up about my three, and I came in here and shot it.
” Ingram made history by being the first-ever NBA player to score 40 or more points and have nine assists in less than 30 minutes (29:58). He is also one of only three players to have scored 40 or more points with zero turnovers in less than 30 minutes, with LeBron James and Steph Curry being the other two players who accomplished this feat
Dominant performance by Brandon.” Coach Willie Green said in his postgame press conference. “When he shoots the ball like that, he’s capable of doing it night in and night out. It puts the game away, and that’s what he did. We’ve been on all our guys to shoot more threes – BI (Brandon Ingram) especially. When we shoot the ball like that, it’s going to be tough to stop us. Not only was he 8-for-11 on threes with 41 points, he also had nine assists.”
In front of a roaring sellout crowd, the former Duke star buried eight three-pointers en route to scoring 41 points, nine assists, and six rebounds in 30 minutes against the Raptors.
He was on fire to start the second half by scoring 20 points with six three-point shots made from beyond Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Ingram also dished out five assists in the period.
New Orleans would have have a 36-point lead in the 3rd quarter hitting 14-of-26 from the field at 53.8%. Zion Williamson noted Ingram’s historic effort: “You got to give 14 the ball and let him go to work.
He is going to make the right play. Whether he is shooting like that or if it is just another game where he is on pace to do what he usually does, he is always going to make the right play.
His teammates CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas joined Ingram with 20+ minutes on the floor, scoring in double-figures each without committing any turnovers.
New Orleans will fly to Los Angeles to meet the Clippers on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Afterwards, the Pelicans start a back-to-back series against the Lakers on Friday, Feb. 9, and then Trail Blazers on Saturday, Feb. 10.
On winning before their three-game road trip, Ingram said, “We know the importance of getting these wins before the All-Star break starts. We want to continue to stay locked in and not look forward too much to this All-Star break. We got to get these wins so that when we come back, we will be prepared to win more basketball games.”
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