Just when it seemed like the New Orleans Pelicans were starting to recover from a series of injuries, their top scorer Brandon Ingram got hurt again on Saturday.
Ingram twisted his left ankle badly after landing awkwardly on the foot of Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort early in the third quarter during the Pelicans’ 119-109 loss to the Thunder.
Ingram had already missed six of the Pelicans’ first 24 games this season due to various injuries and had just returned from tendonitis in his right foot. He made a strong return on Thursday night, scoring 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting in a 126-124 win over Phoenix. However, on Saturday, he left the game after scoring only five points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Pelicans coach Willie Green said he couldn’t provide any updates on the severity of Ingram’s latest injury.
“No update right now,” Green said. “It’s extremely tough to see B.I. go down — adversity, once again. He had a really good game coming back (against Phoenix) and had a few really good practices. To see a tough play like that was a really tough break for us.”
The Pelicans have had the most injuries in the NBA this season, especially affecting their key players.
Pelican players have missed a total of 117 games due to injury in the first six weeks of the season. Zion Williamson has missed 18 of 24 games, mostly after pulling a hamstring on Nov. 11. Jose Alvarado has missed 13 games with a hamstring injury, and Jordan Hawkins has also missed 13 with a back injury.
Herb Jones returned after missing 18 games with a right shoulder strain, Dejounte Murray came back after missing 17 games with a left hand fracture, and CJ McCollum returned after sitting out 13 games due to an adductor strain.
Now, the Pelicans will have to wait for more information on Ingram, who had been averaging 23.2 points per game before the loss to the Thunder.
