Lakers’ Brandon Ingram gets lift from a good start
The very first shot he took was a three-point attempt that connected. It helped Brandon Ingram get that feeling back, a game after he struggled offensively.
“It got me off to a good start where I can be aggressive on the offensive end and make plays for other teammates,” said Ingram, who made seven of 13 shots for 16 points Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans. “. . . I think any given night it can be anybody’s night just shooting the ball when you’re open and making the right plays.”
Against the Boston Celtics on Friday night, Ingram didn’t take a single shot until the fourth quarter and finished 0 for 2. Lakers Coach Luke Walton talked later about wanting Ingram to be more aggressive. He also said that if he needed to, he’d manipulate his play-calling to get Ingram more shots.
Walton felt that Ingram’s game Sunday was closer to what the Lakers have come to expect of him.
“One of my favorite things about him is whether he’s playing good or bad, he’s in the gym the next day working before practice,” Walton said. “He’s had great practices lately. If that fueled him, that’s a personal question that he’ll be able to answer. But he’s serious about this game and he’s serious bout getting better.”
First Cousins win
Since trading for DeMarcus Cousins after the All-Star game, the Pelicans had not won with him in the lineup until they beat the Lakers on Sunday night.
“We have a really unselfish bunch of guys,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said. “I think the first two or three games, we’ve gone overboard trying to make sure we’re throwing the ball into him, putting him in the right spots, things like that. I think he’s been great. One of the things he said was, ‘You guys just gotta play your game. I’ll be OK. I’ll be able to fit in.’ He has been able to do that. It’s just a process.”
The former Sacramento Kings big man scored 26 points with 15 rebounds before fouling out Sunday.
Injury update
Larry Nance Jr. suffered a right wrist sprain against the Pelicans. Nance had an X-ray after the game and will be reevaluated Monday. The X-ray was negative for fractures.
Nance played 19 minutes 32 seconds and had four points, five rebounds, a steal and a turnover.
Lakers center Ivica Zubac didn’t play against the Pelicans because of a quadriceps contusion. Zubac suffered the injury against the Celtics on Friday.
He will travel with the Lakers on their trip this week to Dallas and Phoenix.
“It’s been a couple days now and he still is limping around,” Walton said. “Hopefully it won’t be too long, but timetable, I don’t know.”
Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli
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