NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram highlighted a 41-point outburst with a career-high eight 3-pointers — hitting six during a dazzling third quarter — and the New Orleans Pelicans routed the struggling Toronto Raptors 138-100 on Monday night.
Ingram hit 16 of 21 shots and also dished out nine assists in 30 minutes. He capped his performance by hitting five straight 3s at the end of the third, after which he went to the bench smiling widely as he soaked in a prolonged standing ovation.
At that point, New Orleans led 105-71, and Pelicans starters got the rest of the night off.
CJ McCollum scored 20 points — accounting for six of New Orleans’ 19 made 3-pointers.
Zion Williamson added 16 points, while Jonas Valanciunas had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans, who won their third straight while dropping the Raptors to their eighth loss in nine games.
Raptors rookie Gradey Dick, the 13th overall pick out of Kansas in last summer’s NBA Draft, had a season-high 22 points, highlighted by four 3s. Scottie Barnes scored 17, and Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Ingram scored 21 points in the first half on nine jump shots. His closest in that stretch was an 8-foot pullup as he was fouled. Everything else went down from 14 feet or farther, including a pair of 3s.
Williamson added 14 points to help New Orleans build a lead as large as 21 points early in the second quarter. That margin might have been wider if not for Dick, who came in averaging 4 points per game, but scored 15 in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3 of 4 from deep.
That helped the Raptors briefly cut their deficit to 12 before New Orleans took a 67-50 lead into halftime.
With Pelicans starters resting during the fourth, Pelicans reserve guard Jose Alvarado capitalized on extra minutes with 11 points and three steals.
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