On February 26, Beijing time, the Pelicans played the Suns away, and the rankings of the two sides were 12th in the Pelicans West, and the Suns were the first in the league. The two teams with a huge gap made the media think that the game lost suspense before the start, but the Pelicans beat the Suns 117-102 on the road with the excellent performances of Ingram and CJ. The Pelicans' biggest contributors in this game are inLine and CJ, two core players. The two worked together to score 60 points. From this, it can be seen that the pelicans' new lineup built around Ingram does have the ability to fight hard battles with CJ.
Looking back at the entire game, the Suns have been under the pressure of the Pelicans since the first quarter of the game. In the first quarter, the Pelicans took the lead in the first quarter, and the continuous shooting disrupted the rhythm of the Suns' usual first quarter points, coupled with the Suns' slow heat in the game, which allowed the Pelicans to easily score 31 points in the first quarter, while the Suns only had 22 points. Heading into the second quarter, Suns star Booker played consecutive singles to prevent the point difference from continuing to widen, and the Suns had narrowed the gap to six points by the end of the entire half.
Entering the third quarter, the Pelicans twins officially exploded, completely penetrating the Suns' defense on the offensive end, Ingram and CJ each scored 20 points in the third quarter, and the two let the Suns lose 42 points with just one game. The Suns had the heart to chase points in the final quarter of the game, but the Pelicans played steadily, strengthened their defense and finally maintained the lead until the end of the game.
With the end of the game, CJ had 32 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and Ingram had 28 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and the two of them contributed more than half of the team's points. Ending the team's second-game losing streak also ended the Suns' eight-game winning streak. This game was the Pelicans' best performance since CJ joined. CJ played the team needs his contribution of offensive firepower in the game, the Pelicans introduced CJ essentially to reduce the pressure on Ingram, before Ingram as the Pelicans' only stable scoring strength, once limited The Pelicans as a whole will find rhythm, and the Pelicans played the effect that tactics should have, CJ and Ingram reduced each other's offensive pressure, not only to score easier, but also to perform better at the assist end, the two gave a total of 11 assists in this game, making it difficult for opponents to defend. It is worth mentioning that Ingram has finally ended the recent slump, the shooting efficiency of this game is extremely high, Ingram's 28 points compared to Booker's 30 points, the number of shots has decreased by more than 5 times, and he is improving in the direction of Durant.
Although the Pelicans are still more lost and less won after getting CJ, the Pelicans have obviously found a way to win, and the next thing to do is to strengthen the execution of tactics, Ingram has always been criticized for having talent and no results, but this season he has obviously made great progress, if the Pelicans can deepen the depth of the lineup next season, I believe it is not difficult to reach the playoffs.