Improbably, even though it’s only 10 games into the season, New Orleans has been without every member of its projected starting five at least once due to injury. Leading scorer Brandon Ingram made it a clean sweep just before tip-off Monday, being ruled out of action due to knee soreness, after he had warmed up and tried to play through the discomfort.
Playing without Ingram for the first time in 2019-20, the Pelicans kept fighting back against the Rockets, but ultimately couldn’t pull ahead in the second half. Houston went up by double digits and held off a late New Orleans surge in the meeting of Southwest Division foes, collecting a fourth consecutive win after starting the season 3-3.