Pelicans, equalize again.
In the first round of G4, the Pelicans defeated the Suns 118-103 at home, the first half of the battle ended, the Suns also led by 2 points with a slight advantage of 51-49, in the third quarter, the Pelicans played 35-23 in the single quarter, and did not let the Suns catch up after the rebound, and finally successfully won the victory, pulling the big score into a 2-2 draw.
In this game, Ingram once again performed amazingly, playing a total of 36.5 minutes in the whole game, shooting 11 of 23, 1 of 5 three-pointers, 7 of 10 free throws, 30 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, and his plus-minus was as high as +18.
The fly in the ointment is that Ingram did not score a single point on 3-of-0 shooting in the fourth quarter, but in the third quarter, which was also the key section for the Pelicans to open the gap, Ingram scored 16 points and 2 assists in the single quarter.
Counting this game, Ingram has won 30+ in three consecutive games:
- G2, 13-of-21, 37 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists
- G3, 11 of 19, 34 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists
- G4, 11 of 23, 30 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists
What is the concept? This was the first playoff game of Ingram's career, and he became the third player to score 30+ in the first four playoff games since the 1976-77 season, followed by Iverson and James.
So far in the series, Ingram's performance is really incredible, he can currently average 29.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, ranking fourth in the playoff scoring list, the three shooting rates have reached 51.3%/50.0%/87.9%, the true shooting rate is 62.9%, the Suns This round of games has changed many people to defend him, but it is impossible to prevent Ingram's offensive momentum.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the past four games, Ingram is the best player in this series, not only that, but among the eight playoff teams in the entire West, Ingram is the first small forward, and even if you look at the whole league, there are only a few who have performed better than him in the playoffs.
The warblers of the playoffs are indeed different.
In fact, Ingram's outburst also has signs, which can also be seen in the performance before and after the All-Star:
— Before the All-Star, he averaged 22.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, shooting 53.8% from the field.
After the All-Star, he averaged 25.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, shooting 62.5% from the field.
It can be clearly seen that in the All-Star in Ingram has improved a lot compared to the pre-All-Star, and it must be said that in the playoffs, facing the Spurs 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, facing the Clippers 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, in the two key games Ingram all played well, the Pelicans can qualify for the playoffs.
It is also worth mentioning the Pelicans, although this team can only rank ninth in the West, but their strength is actually not weak at all - the Pelicans started the season with 1 win and 12 losses, and the first 19 games were 3 wins and 16 losses, but after February, the Pelicans' offensive and defensive efficiency reached 117.1 and 112.8 respectively, ranking eighth in the league and tenth in the league.
Of course, Booker's injury is a factor, but don't forget, the Pelicans side also gave a Zion, healthy Zion was also selected as an All-Star last season, if healthy, next season Zion and Ingram, CJ McCollum combination may be able to do something in the West.
Back to Ingram and this series.
Originally, before the start of the series, the outside world generally thought that there was no suspense in the outcome of this round of games, but after the first four games, the Pelicans actually approached the Sun, who had the first in the league in the regular season, to The King Mountain, and won 11 points and 15 points in the two games won, which was already a success in itself.
For Ingram, who played the playoffs for the first time, he has fully proved himself, but at present, this round of the series is not over, Ingram needs to continue the performance of the past three games, the first "black nine miracle" in history, what if?