Brandon Ingram produced 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season and the New Orleans Pelicans capitalized on the absence of Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 107-88.
Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while CJ McCollum had 23 for New Orleans. The Pelicans tied Minnesota in seventh place in the Western with their sixth win in seven games.
Jokic was in plain clothes due to a persistent calf problem that bothered him during Monday night’s victory over Philadelphia. Jamal Murray had 21 points for Denver and Bruce Brown added 19. The Nuggets’ lead in the Western fell to three games over Memphis, with six still to play.
Denver’s offense struggled without its leading scorer, rebounder and assist man, scoring just 40 points in the first half on a 34.8% shooting percentage. The Nuggets shot 4-of-28 from 3.