We needed that one.

And by “we,” I mean the Pelicans players, coaches, fans, mascot, newborn baby fans, the NBA, pets, JJ Reddick, the Pels 12, and more.

The New Orleans Pelicans fought hard the entire game and ended up with the 121-110 win against the Portland Trailblazers on the road on Wednesday.

After having lost four straight games, Brandon Ingram was the hero we needed him to be and scored 40 points in the Pels victory. He also played 38 minutes and was a dangerous offensive weapon all night.

While the storyline focused around C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard facing off for the first time since McCollum was traded to New Orleans, it was Ingram who was the star of the show. With that being said, McCollum played solid, scoring 24 points, and have seven board and seven assists.

Willie Green’s coaching was diverse with Jaxson Hayes coming off the bench to score 15 points in just under 16 minutes, his first double-digit scoring performance since Jan. 20. Hayes was solid defensively as well, collecting two blocks and two steals.

Dame scored a game-high 41 points, but he did not have even one assist, a credit to the strong defensive performance by the Pelicans team.

Next up for New Orleans is Friday, March 3 at the Golden State Warriors. Local fans here in the Central Time Zone can pre-game until 9 pm when tipoff happens.

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