Pelicans' Ingram exits vs. Thunder with sprained ankle

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Just when it appeared the New Orleans Pelicans were beginning to regroup after a wave of injuries, leading scorer Brandon Ingram went down Saturday.

Ingram landed awkwardly on the foot of Oklahoma City's Lu Dort early in the third quarter of Saturday night's 119-109 loss to the Thunder and severely twisted his left ankle.

Ingram had missed six of the Pelicans’ 24 games this season with an assortment of injuries, and had just returned from tendonitis in his right foot. He battled back on Thursday night with 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting in a 126-124 victory over Phoenix. He left Saturday’s game with just five points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Pelicans coach Willie Green said he could not shed any light on the severity of Ingram’s most recent 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.”

By a wide margin, the Pelicans have been the most injured team in the NBA this season, especially with their five players.

Pelican players have lost 117 games due to injury in the first six weeks of the season. Zion Williamson has missed 18 of 24 games – the bulk coming after he pulled a hamstring on Nov. 11. Jose Alvarado has missed 13 games (hamstring) and Jordan Hawkins 13 (back).

Herb Jones returned to the lineup after missing 18 games with a right shoulder strain. Dejounte Murray came back after missing 17 with a left hand fracture, and CJ McCollum is back after sitting out 13 games with an adductor strain.

Now, the Pelicans will have to wait on Ingram, who led the team by averaging 23.2 points before the loss to the Thunder.

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