The New Orleans Pelicans are surging at a time when they need it most, and that's due in large part to a big dose of Brandon Ingram's heroics.
The star forward was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of his Week for his efforts, in which he averaged 31.3 points, 10 assists and 6.3 rebounds as his team went 3-0 and re-established itself in the playoff picture.
Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown won the award in the Eastern Conference.
It's been an uptick in production from Ingram at a time his team needed it most, improving on his averages of 23.9 points, 5 rebounds and 5.4 assists over the course of they year. That run also included Ingram's first career triple-double, when he logged 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over the Hornets last week.
The Pelicans have also won four straight after dropping to a season-worst 4 games below .500 and enter Monday night at 37-37, along in the No. 8 spot and only a game out of No. 6, which represents the final playoff seed that doesn't have to participate in a play-in game.
With seven games to play, the race is still wide open. The Pelicans could feasibly climb as high as No. 4 with just a two game difference separating New Orleans from the Suns, but they also hold just a 2-game cushion on the Jazz at No. 12 in the standings. Seeds 7-10 compete in a play-in tournament to set the final two seeds in the full playoff field.
Should the Pelicans stay in the hunt, it's feasible they could be bolstered down the stretch by the return of Zion Williamson, who got back to on-court work last week and has a chance to get back for the final few games of the year and a postseason run, if things get that far. To do that, they'll have to survive a grueling West Coast trip against multiple playoff-caliber teams, which began with the L.A. Clippers. Next up is the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, then followed by the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. It doesn't get much easier when they return home for four games against the L.A. Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks, before closing out the season on the road against the Timberwolves.
