Pelicans star leaves game with knee injury

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram exited Thursday’s matchup with the Magic with a left knee injury after planting awkwardly, according to NOLA.com’s Christian Clark.

He appeared to hyperextend his knee, writhed on the floor and had to be helped off the court. According to Clark, he put minimal pressure on his knee as he headed back to the locker room. After the game, head coach Willie Green said Ingram would have an MRI, but didn’t have any other information.

“It’s extremely difficult to see him go down,” Green said, per Clark. “Our prayers will be going up tonight. Hopefully, we get some good news tonight.”

Ingram scored 14 points in his first 21 minutes before going down. On the season, Ingram is averaging 21.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 48.9% from the field and 35.7% from deep. Without Ingram, the Pelicans fell to the Magic 121-106.

In his absence, Trey Murphy shouldered more minutes and finished the game with 21 points in 29 minutes. Clark expects Murphy to continue to play more with Ingram out.