Pelicans most to blame for brutal play-in loss to Lakers

Last season, CJ McCollum wasn’t at his best in the Pelicans’ 9/10 play-in tournament matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. McCollum went 5-15 in a 123-118 loss to OKC, a performance that was merely a continuation of his disastrous week that had him miss a couple of shots that he’d usually make in a loss that knocked them down to the ninth spot in the conference.

It came out later that McCollum had been dealing with shoulder and thumb injuries, making it a bit more understandable that he wouldn’t be at his best when the Pelicans needed him. But a year later, will McCollum have the same excuse after putting up another play-in tournament stinker?

CJ McCollum put up just nine points on 4-15 shooting from the field in a four-point loss, with two of those points coming off an uncontested layup with the Lakers protecting a two-possession lead in the end.

McCollum’s struggles even got to the point where head coach Willie Green opted to bench the veteran guard with the Pelicans down by 11 in the fourth quarter. Immediately after benching McCollum, the Pelicans went on a run; in the 3:25 that the veteran guard sat in the final frame, New Orleans went +11, tying the game back at 95 before McCollum had to re-enter the game following Zion Williamson’s injury.

At the very least, the Pelicans will have another crack at making the playoffs, unlike last year. But the 32-year old guard has to play better, especially with Williamson’s status still up in the air.

Brandon Ingram, still dealing with injury?

It’s probably not fair at all to rag on Brandon Ingram for his substandard performance in their play-in loss to the Lakers. After all, this is only his second game back after recovering from a knee sprain, and it might be too much to expect him to return to his best self in a game with high stakes while still dealing with his injury recovery process.

Ingram is also dealing with a minutes restriction, preventing him from joining the team in crunch time. He could have been instrumental in creating offense for the Pelicans after Zion Williamson exited the game.

But star players bear the responsibility of taking their team to the promised land. That’s what separates stars from merely good starters or role players. They shoulder the burden of lifting the team. That’s where Brandon Ingram failed to hold his end of the bargain.

In his 25 minutes of play, he put up just 11 points on a lackluster 4-12 shooting from the field, and during his time on the court, the Pelicans were outscored by 16 points. It might be understandable that Ingram is not at his best quite yet, but it’s hard to win against LeBron James-led team in a postseason setting when two of the team’s best players fail to play up to par.