After four hard-fought quarters and an overtime period, the New Orleans Pelicans were unable to get a win in their regular season opener, losing to the reigning champion Toronto Raptors 130-22. Here was the good, the bad and the Ball from Tuesday night’s loss.
The Good: Brandon Ingram, and 3-point shooting
Brandon Ingram had a spectacular debut for the Pelicans on Tuesday night. Despite posting a game-low box plus-minus of -19, Ingram scored a team-high 22 points on 8-19 shooting from the field, including 2-5 shooting from 3-point range. Ingram also contributed five points, five assists, two blocks and a steal.
With Zion Williamson sidelined until at least December, the Pelicans need someone to pick up the scoring load and it’s starting to look like Ingram could be that guy. Ingram wasn’t the only thing that got the Pelicans’ offense going, though.
The Pelicans were red hot from behind the arc, shooting 42.7 from 3-point range on 45 attempts. Last year’s leader in 3-point attempts was the Houston Rockets, who averaged 45.4 3-point attempts per game.
JJ Redick and Nicolo Melli were the Pelicans’ primary 3-point snipers on Tuesday, draining four each on 11 attempts. Considering their reputation for knocking down 3-pointers, there’s no reason to believe the two veterans will cool down.
Despite their efforts coming in a loss, it was a promising sign for a team that wants to play fast and shoot a lot of 3-pointers.
The Bad: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
After a strong preseason, Nickeil Alexander-Walker couldn’t get anything to fall in his regular season debut for the Pelicans, shooting 1-10 from the field, including 1-7 from behind the arc. He also didn’t get to the free-throw line.
Alexander-Walker managed to find other ways to impact the game, but his eagerness to get out of his shooting slump ultimately resulted in him playing just 11 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly: Alexander-Walker got 10 shots up in 11 minutes.
You can say a lot about the 21-year-old rookie, but the one thing you can’t say is that he lacks confidence, for better or for worse.
The Ball
Lonzo Ball had his fingerprints all over the box score on Tuesday, tallying eight points, five rebounds and five assists while turning the ball over just once, but he once against struggled from the field — particularly from inside the 3-point line.
While Ball made two of his three 3-point attempts, he went 0-4 on his 2-point attempts. He’s getting more comfortable using his size to back players down in the post, but unless he gets fouled on a shot and goes to the charity stipe or develops a reliable mid-range shot, he’s going to struggle trying to score that way.
Ball and the Pelicans will have a chance to bounce back against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
