New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram did not play in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 102-91 win over the New York Knicks because of a sprained right ankle.
Pelicans head coach Willie Green told reporters after the game that Ingram could not have played in the final 12 minutes and the team will further evaluate him when they get back to New Orleans.
There are no plans to do an MRI on Ingram at the moment and they'll see how his ankle feels when they return home before taking any further steps, sources told ESPN. Cameras showed Ingram seated on the bench in the fourth quarter without a shoe on his right foot.
He injured the ankle with 36.7 seconds left in the third quarter while defending a shot by Knicks guard Quentin Grimes. Ingram was defending the long two-point attempt by Grimes and when Grimes landed, his knees knuckled and he crashed into Ingram's leg. Ingram's ankle bent awkwardly as both players hit the ground.
Ingram finished the quarter and got off a fadeaway jumper before sitting out the rest of the game.
New Orleans catches a break with three consecutive days off before they return to the court on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. They'll follow that up with a back-to-back at Philadelphia before two more days off and then a home back-to-back against Denver and Boston next Friday and Saturday.
Ingram has missed nine games this season and the Pelicans are 1-8 in those contests with the lone win coming against Cleveland on Dec. 28, a game in which the Pelicans trailed by as many as 23 points. It was the second-largest comeback in Pelicans' history.
