Postgame wrap: Pelicans 138, Raptors 100

Brandon Ingram the multi-dimensional threat did major damage against Toronto for two-plus quarters Monday, scoring, defending, rebounding and passing. Then Brandon Ingram, three-point shooter, took over the game. A barrage of third-quarter treys from Ingram gave him a season-high 41 points and put the Raptors away, giving the hosts an insurmountable 105-71 lead through three periods. Ingram shot 6/8 from three-point range in the third period alone, finishing Monday with a career-high eight made treys. Ingram’s eruption from long distance led the Pelicans to a franchise-record 10 threes in that quarter. The one-time All-Star forward also notched six rebounds and nine assists in a stellar all-around performance. He sat the entire fourth quarter, with New Orleans up by as many as 45 points. “Dominant performance by Brandon,” head coach Willie Green said. “Give (uniform number) 14 the ball and let him go to work,” Zion Williamson described of the prolific offense by his fellow starting forward.

Ingram from distance.
The Smoothie King Center crowd was already in a splendid mood while watching their team dominate Toronto, but then Ingram traveled into “the zone” shooting-wise, scoring 15 points in five possessions by making a long ball on every Pelicans offensive trip during that sequence. Knowing what was coming, the Raptors tried to prevent Ingram from shooting again from deep, but to no avail. A sellout audience of 17,000-plus roared its approval after Ingram sank a sixth trifecta of the period, over Toronto center Jakob Poeltl.
Big three excellence.
It’s tough to sink six three-pointers in a game and still somehow get overshadowed, but that was the case during Ingram’s exploits for guard CJ McCollum, who shot 6/10 from deep among his 20 points. McCollum also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Meanwhile, Williamson helped power New Orleans to its big lead with a 14-point first half. He finished with 16 points and five assists and only needed to log a total of 22 minutes of playing time. Add it all up, and NOLA's top three weapons combined for 77 points and 17 assists.
A steady stream of blowouts.
New Orleans won its first game by three points or less all season Friday at San Antonio, but the Pelicans aren’t getting much practice these days at executing near the end of close contests. Of their 18 games since New Year’s Eve, 15 have been decided by double digits, including nine by 20-plus points. Monday’s romp over Toronto was the biggest margin of victory for New Orleans this season, surpassing three victories that were by exactly 36 points.

9-4: New Orleans record vs. the East this season. Over half of the Pelicans’ 32 remaining games are against that conference (17), including two apiece vs. Indiana, Miami and Orlando.
20: Ingram third-quarter points, most by any New Orleans player in a period this season. He also became the first-ever Pelican in franchise history to record a 20-point, five-assist quarter.
13/13: Pelicans foul shooting perfection. If there weren’t already enough positives from Monday’s fun-filled showing, it was the first time this season that New Orleans has made all of its free throws in a game.

For the third time this season, Williamson earned team Player of the Week honors via fan “balloting” on X, after New Orleans went 2-1 in Week 15, prevailing on the home floors of Houston and San Antonio (preceded by a loss at Boston). Williamson garnered more than 70 percent of votes. He averaged 29.5 points on 59 percent shooting from the field in his two appearances, highlighted by the game-winning, high-degree-of-difficulty layup Friday against the Spurs. Previous winners: Week 1: Zion Williamson; Week 2: CJ McCollum; Week 3: None; Week 4: Herb Jones; Week 5: Brandon Ingram; Week 6: Zion Williamson; Week 7: None; Week 8: Jonas Valanciunas; Week 9: None; Week 10: Brandon Ingram; Week 11: CJ McCollum; Week 12: Jordan Hawkins; Week 13-14: None.