Pelicans-Rockets: Ingram returns, Zion lost | Pelicans

One of the New Orleans Pelicans' All-Star forwards returned to the lineup Tuesday in the team's final preseason game.

The other was unavailable.

Brandon Ingram, who did not play in the Pelicans' games against the Orlando Magic or Miami Heat, was active against the Houston Rockets. He scored 18 points in 21 minutes.

The Pelicans lost 118-98 to the Rockets at Toyota Center. They don't play again until October 23rd, the opening game of the regular season against the Chicago Bulls.

Zion Williamson did not play on Tuesday. Pelicans coach Willie Green called his absence a “rest day.”

“Zion will be out tonight,” Green said. “After speaking to him and discussing everything together, we decided that it would be better to give him a day of rest. He will do some conditioning. He's fine. But we’ll keep him out of tonight’s game and get him ready for the 23rd.”

Green used a starting lineup of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Ingram and Daniel Theis. Green still has to decide which group of five he will use at the start of the regular season. Ingram and Williamson will certainly be part of whatever lineup Green chooses, and they weren't able to play together a second time in the preseason.

At halftime of Tuesday's game, New Orleans trailed Houston 64-50. Houston outscored New Orleans 28-10 in the first two quarters.

At the start of the second half, Green substituted Yves Missi in Theis' place at center. The 21st pick in the last NBA draft, Missi showed intriguing promise in his 19 minutes on the court.

In the third quarter, Missi blocked Alperen Sengun's shot, ran the floor and converted a lob pass into a layup.

Off the bench, Jordan Hawkins contributed 20 points in 18 minutes. At the end of the third quarter, he scored 13 points in a flurry that lasted about three minutes.

Hawkins, who shot 3 of 6 from 3-point territory and a perfect 5 of 5 at the free throw line, was one of the Pelicans' standout players in training camp and the preseason. The 22-year-old guard appears ready for consistent rotation minutes in his second season.

New Orleans went 1-2 in its three-game preseason schedule. Four preseason games were scheduled to be played, but one of those contests was canceled due to Hurricane Milton.

The Pelicans will return to New Orleans for a series of practices before their first regular-season game next week against the Bulls.