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Andrew LopezESPN
The New Orleans Pelicans lost forward Brandon Ingram to a sprained left big toe in the second quarter of their 132-111 loss to the host Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
Ingram suffered the injury late in the second quarter when he stepped on another player’s foot. Ingram initially tried to play through the sprain, with Pelicans coach Willie Green even asking Ingram during live action if he needed to check out.
However, after a couple of possessions, Ingram exited the game with 59.9 seconds to go in the first half. He had eight points, three rebounds and three assists when he left the game and was subsequently ruled out.
The Pelicans were already without guard CJ McCollum, who has missed the past two games after being placed in health and safety protocols.
Ingram has played in 15 games this season but missed four because of a concussion. Entering Friday’s game, Ingram was averaging 21.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game while shooting a career-high 47.5% from deep.
Friday night was the 19th game of the season for the Pelicans, but they’ve had their preferred starting lineup of McCollum, Ingram, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas for only 10 of those games because of various injuries.
Valanciunas is the only player of the group to play in all 19 games.