LOS ANGELES –While sitting patiently on the bench, Lakers rookie forward Brandon Ingram started wondering if he would ever check into the game during crunchtime.

As the Lakers secured a 108-103 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday at Staples Center, Ingram eventually realized it would not happen.

“I was definitely anxious to get back out there,” Ingram said.

Lakers coach Luke Walton was definitely anxious about doing that, though. Ingram offered continual growth in his aggression by scoring 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. But Ingram had played on the second day of a back-to-back after missing the previous three games with tendinitis in his right knee. So, Walton found more value in keeping Ingram at a minutes restriction than allowing him to grow in a closeout game.

After Ingram logged 24 minutes on Saturday against the Clippers, Walton planned to extend that minutes restriction against Memphis. He chose otherwise for other reasons. Walton found it counterproductive for Ingram to play in a limited fourth-quarter stretch considering that might not be enough to build a rhythm. Walton found the closeout group that included D’Angelo Russell, Tyler Ennis, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. playing just fine. And Walton figured to be cautious, even if Ingram has a day off on Monday and a practice day on Tuesday before the Lakers (22-55) visit the San Antonio Spurs (59-17) at AT&T Center.

So when Ingram learned he would not play again with the score tied, 90-90, with 5:43 remaining, he processed his internal frustration while respecting Walton’s thought process.

“When you first hear it, it’s not something you want to go through. You don’t want to sit out and watch the game,” Ingram said. “I wanted to be in there. After a while, you think about being unselfish, just cheering for your teammates and just trying to get a win and feeding off of their energy.”

After all, Ingram echoed Walton’s belief in putting higher priority in ensuring he enters the offseason fully healthy than squeezing out extra minutes in forgetful games in April. Still, Ingram might not face such restrictions as he did against Memphis in the Lakers’ five remaining games.

“I felt great being out there. Of course, when you’re going through the motions like that, you don’t really think about the injury or what’s hurt,” Ingram said. “But overall, I felt great on the floor. I felt great sitting down. I think I’m almost back to 100 percent.”

Ingram appeared nearly at 100 percent when he played.

It took him only seven seconds into the game before driving to the basket for a layup. Ingram led the Lakers in first-quarter scoring (six points on 3-of-7 shooting) after playing all but the last 44.8 seconds of the period. After sitting out for all of the second quarter, Ingram played in the entire third quarter he had seven points on a 3-of-4 clip.

“It’s building confidence just going against guys and realizing mismatches,” Ingram said. “On the defensive end, just trying to trust my feet and help my guys on the weakside. Overall, everything is in the flow and just getting better and better.”

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