New Orleans, where Ingram was absent, lost two consecutive games.
The New Orleans Pelicans lost 111-124 against the Phoenix Suns of the 2023-2024 NBA regular season at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Tuesday (U.S. time). They lost two games in a row.
New Orleans gave up its 18-point advantage from the first quarter. It lost control of its opponent, ace Devin Booker (196 cm, G). It gave up 24 points to Booker alone. As a result, at the end of the first quarter, the score was 28-46.
In the second quarter, the team aggressively pursued the rival team in earnest. Zion Williams (198 cm tall, F) targeted the opponent team under the basket. However, it was difficult to narrow the gap without scoring an outside goal. New Orleans failed to show signs of recovery even in the second quarter.
However, the players didn’t give up. Zion continued his performance in the third quarter. He scored nine points in the third quarter. New Orleans, which even provided support to its players, managed to narrow the gap. Dyson Denials (201 cm, G) scored two seconds before the end of the quarter, and the score became 90-103.
However, New Orleans’ momentum did not last until the fourth quarter. The gap widened again with consecutive losses at the beginning of the quarter. It widened to 17 points. After that, Zion was the lead, but he failed to narrow the gap and lost the game.
New Orleans coach Willie Green expressed his disappointment after the game. In an interview with Clutch Point, he said, “It was such a shame to lose such an important game. I especially miss the injured. If Ingram had been there when we were losing, we could have created a different trend. He is a player who knows how to save his teammates. “Also, I can score goals at important moments. If that happens, I don’t know what will happen. But I couldn’t fill his void today,” he said of Brandon Ingram’s absence (203 cm tall, F).
“At times like this, we have to focus more on the game. We have to concentrate on the whole 48 minutes. Right now, we are only focusing on 32 to 35 minutes,” he added.
New Orleans continued its mid-season battle with tremendous momentum. However, its momentum has recently declined. It is feeling a void in Ingram. Also, its mid-range rivals showed a huge rise. As a result, New Orleans is ranked sixth.
However, there is still a possibility that he will be ranked fourth. The gap with the Los Angeles Clippers is only 2.5 games. New Orleans has never been a top seed since the 2007-2008 season. Attention is focusing on whether he will be able to continue his ranking fight by enduring Ingram’s absence.