Pelicans 107, Nuggets 88

Brandon Ingram had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season and the New Orleans Pelicans took advantage of Nikola Jokic’s absence to beat the Denver Nuggets 107-88 on Thursday night.

Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 12 rebounds and CJ McCollum scored 23 points for New Orleans. The Pelicans tied Minnesota for seventh in the West with their sixth victory in seven games.

Jokic was in street clothes due to lingering calf tightness that bothered him Monday night in a victory over Philadelphia.

Jamal Murray had 21 points for Denver, and Bruce Brown added 19. The Nuggets lead in the Western Conference dropped to three games over Memphis with six to play.

Denver’s offense struggled without its leading scorer, rebounder and assist man, managing just 40 points in the first half on 34.8% shooting. The Nuggets were 4 of 28 from 3-point range on the night.

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson missed his 40th consecutive game with a hamstring injury. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

Knicks' Randle out rest of regular season with ankle sprain

Julius Randle will miss the rest of the regular season with a sprained left ankle, and his availability for the playoffs — if the New York Knicks make it — is in doubt.

Randle was hurt Wednesday in a victory over Miami, and the Knicks said Thursday that the All-Star for-ward would be re-evaluated in two weeks. That would be two days before the postseason is scheduled to open on April 15.

The Knicks are in good shape to qualify for the post-season at fifth in the Eastern Conference with five games to play. But it's hard to imagine they would be a threat to advance without Randle, who leads them with 25.1 points and 10 rebounds per game.

He was hurt in the second quarter Wednesday when Bam Adebayo landed on him after Randle grabbed an offensive rebound and pump-faked the Heat center into the air. Randle stayed in to shoot free throws but then immediately left the game, limping directly to the locker room.

He has started all 77 games this season.