Pelicans, Brandon Ingram Disrobed the Kings 125-95

Brandon Ingram feasted from midrange and perimeter, but it won't be easy to post such an efficient stat line consistently. He was 15-19 from the field with only three shots within five feet of the rim. Though Ingram only shot two free throws, Coach Green still admired the "beauty in it. Not only did he get it going, but the guys were all looking for him. Every time he got the ball, they were looking to run plays just to feed him, and it's beautiful to watch the connectivity of our guys. He is capable of doing that night in and night out. It's good to see him have a big game like he did tonight."

The Pelicans shot only 12 free throws. New Orleans dominated the Kings in every aspect of the game. They shot a 59.1% rate compared to Sacramento's 39.3%, grabbed 12 more rebounds (50 total), caused 11 turnovers, and won the fast break battle 26 to 10. The bench, led by Naji Marshall's 17 points in 16 minutes, scored 31 points on the night. It was a team win credited to defensive effort and playing with great energy.

Speaking of Not On Herb, Green said Jones is "getting more confident, and when he has games like this, it triggers everybody. He was on Fox pretty much all game guarding him, had a couple of big blocks, and he hit some threes down the stretch, which were huge for us. He's continued to improve. His confidence is growing, and you know we're blessed to have him."

Jones credits Green's consistent messaging even at halftime. "He just tells us to come out and not let the energy drop. That's been a point of emphasis for us throughout the season. We've been coming out in the second half kind of lackadaisical, and tonight we just came out with a ton of energy played very hard on the offensive end. Shots were falling, (and) we came out and got the win." 

Ingram agreed that "It's the voice in the locker room. Everybody had a sense of urgency in that third quarter, and (we) came out and played really good on the defensive end, and we got some easy buckets offensively…. We picked up the sense of urgency in the second half. That's what it was going to come down to, whoever played defense first. Everybody was doing good on the offensive end, but it was important for us to pick up the urgency on the defensive end, get some easy buckets and stop them on the fast break."

It feels as if these Pelicans are learning on the fly how good they can be this season. They've addressed the team's questions and came from the All-Star break refreshed. They can play and not overthink things. Sometimes, it's just about being comfortable enough to enjoy the moment and have fun in the games of life and basketball. 

As Ingram explained, "It's fun to play here right now. Willie (Green) is setting the table for us to go out there and be really, really good offensively and defensively, and we're just going out there and just trying to be really, really good every night. Be the best version of ourselves and these last three games. It's been happening."