Nets withstand Ingram’s big game, hold off Pelicans
Kyrie Irving had 39 points and nine assists, and the Brooklyn Nets withstood Brandon Ingram’s career-high 40 points to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 135-125 on Monday night.
The Nets had 67 points at halftime and a 20-point lead in the third quarter, but could never get comfortable until the final minute as Ingram kept coming at them.
He shot 17 for 24 from the field in his first
40-point game and the Pelicans scored a franchise-record 48 points in the third quarter. They got within two in the fourth but could never get enough stops to actually catch the Nets.
Caris LeVert added 23 points, Joe Harris had
19 and Jarrett Allen finished with 18 points and
10 rebounds for the Nets, who follow this game with a five-game road trip, their longest of the season, with the first four in the West.
Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball each scored
15 points and Josh Hart had 14 for the Pelicans, who fell to 1-6.
Brooklyn led by only two after Ingram’s threepoint play with 4:58 remaining in the half, but the Nets scored 10 straight. Five of them came in one trip when Allen made two free throws after being flagrantly fouled by Ingram — he actually made the shot while being thrown to the ground, but the foul had been called on the floor — and Garrett Temple made a 3-pointer after Brooklyn retained possession. Online: The Sixers game against the Suns ended too late for this edition.
Knowing he’s the on- and off-court leader of a revamped roster filled with youth and inexperience, Bradley Beal was pleased to see the way his Washington Wizards reacted to what he called “laying an egg.”
One game after a lackluster loss, the Wizards ended Detroit star Andre Drummond’s 20-20 streak and picked up their second victory of the young season, beating depleted Detroit in a half-empty arena.
“Still a lot of things we’ve got to work on, get better at,” said Beal, who had 20 points and six assists. “But it is definitely a good sign to see, after last game.”
Two nights earlier, Washington was beaten by 22 points at home by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were missing the suspended Karl-Anthony Towns.
So what if Detroit was without Blake Griffin (left hamstring and knee), Derrick Rose (right hamstring) and Reggie Jackson (lower back)?
“It’s the NBA. There are no excuses,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “We got enough guys in that room to compete, to fight.”
Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who doesn’t have All-Star point guard John Wall, was thrilled with the way his players responded to the criticism they heard during film study of the Timberwolves game.