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Former Duke Basketball one-and-done forward Brandon Ingram made his long-awaited return to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night after missing the last 29 games with a contused left toe.
Related: Duke’s All-Time McDonald’s All-American List.
The 25-year-old former No. 2 overall draft pick hasn’t seen a game in action since the day after Thanksgiving. It’s encouraging that Ingram played his 26 minutes. However, the Pelicans (26-23) lost at home to Minnesota’s Timberwolves (25-25), his 111-102 loss to his sixth straight loss, the team’s worst of the season.
And while Ingram finished with a respectable 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal, he only shot 18-4 from the field and 6-0 from downtown. After the game, he told the media that he was still in pain. Still, he expects to ramp up his output soon.
“I couldn’t wait to go there today,” Ingram said. “I felt a lot of emotion coming in. I was just excited to play. motive.”
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Meanwhile, the Timberwolves still have two former Blue Devils on their roster, Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore Jr. But Rivers was the only player against the Pelicans on Wednesday night, and he only recorded two points and he had three rebounds in his 24 minutes off the bench.
Related: List of all Blue Devils currently in the NBA
Just as New Orleans hope Brandon Ingram will shake off the rust sooner or later, Pelicans fans are also eager for the return of 22-year-old forward Zion Williamson, another Duke basketball player on the team. The franchise’s No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft has missed his last 12 appearances due to a right hamstring injury.
On Tuesday, CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn reported that Williamson was “healing as expected and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.”
Williamson and Ingram are each averaging over 20 points this season. Combined, though, the pair of former All-Stars has missed 59 games, and he’s only been in the lineup together 12 times.
For daily Duke basketball content, keep an eye on Blue Devil Country.
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