Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram Out Indefinitely With Ankle Injury

am’s leading scorer and go-to guy, is out indefinitely with a significant left ankle sprain. ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news Sunday, confirming what everyone feared after Ingram went down during Saturday’s 119-109 loss to the Thunder.

Here’s how it happened: Ingram launched a jump shot, collided mid-air with OKC’s Luguentz Dort, and rolled his ankle on Dort’s foot upon landing. Oh, and to make matters worse, Ingram was hit with an offensive foul on the play.

Talk about adding insult to injury. By the time he hobbled off the court — needing help from teammates and later seen in a boot and crutches — you could already feel the air go out of the Smoothie King Center.

This is brutal timing for both Ingram and the Pelicans. He just got back on the floor after missing five games with plantaris tendinitis, dropping 29 points in a win over Phoenix that snapped a nine-game skid.

But Saturday? Different story. Ingram wasn’t himself, scoring just five points on 1-of-4 shooting before exiting early. Now the Pelicans are left to figure things out — again — without a top player.

At 23.2 points per game, Ingram has been the engine of this Pelicans team, one that’s already limping through the season with injuries to other key players. Losing him for any stretch feels like a gut punch for a squad trying to stay afloat in a brutally competitive Western Conference.

Can the Pelicans find a way to tread water while Ingram heals up? Or is this another step toward a season slipping away? Either way, the road ahead just got a whole lot steeper.