Rough night for Duke basketball product in long-awaited return
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Former Duke basketball one-and-done forward Brandon Ingram made his long-awaited return for the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night after missing their previous 29 games with a bruised left toe.
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The 25-year-old former No. 2 overall draft pick hadn't seen game action since the day after Thanksgiving, and it showed. Ingram played 26 minutes, which is encouraging. But the Pelicans (26-23) lost at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-25), 111-102, marking the team's season-worst sixth-straight loss.
And although Ingram finished with a respectable 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, and one steal, he shot only 4-for-18 from the field and 0-for-6 from downtown. After the game, he told the media that he's not yet pain-free; all the same, he expects to increase his production soon.
"I was anxious to get out there today," Ingram said. "I felt a lot of emotions coming in. Just excitement to play. It's been a while. I'll be fine. I don't think it'll be too many games before I'm myself. Nights like this are only good motivation."
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves have two former Blue Devils on their roster: Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore Jr. However, only Rivers played against the Pelicans on Wednesday night, tallying only two points and three rebounds in his 24 minutes off the bench.
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As New Orleans hopes for Brandon Ingram to shake off his rust sooner rather than later, Pelicans fans are also pining for the return of the squad's other Duke basketball product, 22-year-old forward Zion Williamson. The franchise's 2019 No. 1 draft pick has missed the past 12 outings due to a right hamstring strain.
On Tuesday, CBS Sports' Sam Quinn reported that Williamson is "healing as expected and will be re-evaluated in two weeks."
Williamson and Ingram are each averaging over 20 points per game this season. That said, the pair of one-time All-Stars has missed 59 games combined, and they've been in the lineup together only 12 times.
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