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Andrew LopezESPN
PHOENIX — New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram came to Tuesday night’s postgame news conference with his right ring and pinkie fingers taped up in black athletic tape, but he insisted he’ll be good to go for Game 6 on Thursday.
“It’s fine,” Ingram said following the Pelicans’ 112-97 loss to the Phoenix Suns. “It got a little banged up during the game, but I’ll be all right.”
With 4:07 remaining, Ingram drove baseline and was met at the rim by Suns center Deandre Ayton. Ingram crashed to the floor and landed on his backside but also jammed his two fingers in the process.
On the ensuing Pelicans possession, Ingram lost the ball in a crowd of Suns after taking a hit to his elbow and hand, causing him to extend his arm downward as he was heading back up the court.
“[The fingers] got jammed. They’re pretty sore right now,” Ingram said. “But nothing that treatment can’t fix and get better by next game.”
The injury happened as the Pelicans were trying to make their final push to get the Suns’ lead down to a two-possession game.
When Ayton fouled Ingram, Ingram made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 100-93, one of three times the Pelicans were able to cut the lead to seven in the fourth quarter. Each time, the Suns answered.
After he injured his fingers, Ingram had one turnover and was 0-for-3 from the field.
It was an off night for Ingram overall, who despite finishing with 22 points was 7-of-19 from the field, 1-of-5 from 3 and 7-of-11 from the line.
In fact, the Pelicans didn’t shoot well as a team, shooting 40% from the field and 5-of-25 from distance.
“Yeah, we gotta get off to better starts especially against this type of team, and they feed off the crowd,” said Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, who had 21 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
“They started making shots, going on runs and scoring in transition, but we got to do a better job. But you knew was going to be a dogfight. We knew we were going to compete, and it is encouraging, you know, that to have a chance to kind of cut it to a two-possession or one-possession game, but it shouldn’t come down to that. We gotta get stops, we got to take care of the ball. Those are things that you can control.”
The Pelicans and Suns will square off Thursday night in New Orleans in Game 6.