Kings Hold Pace With Top Lottery Teams in Loss to Pelicans

The Sacramento Kings are entering a dangerous stretch of their schedule. Not in terms of the strength of their opponents, but the complete opposite. Following tonight's matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Kings are set to face the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers, with the Utah Jazz right around the corner as well.

While the Kings aren't outright tanking, in an ideal world, they would maintain their league-worst record through the rest of the season, ensuring a top five pick at worst. That's what made tonight's matchup against the Pelicans so important, who came into the game with a 19-44 record.

The Pelicans have no incentive to lose, as their pick is heading to the Atlanta Hawks regardless, but it's one of a few matchups where the Kings went into it with a reasonable chance to win the game. Sacramento made it close at the end, but the Pelicans came out with the win in the end with a 133-123 victory.

That's key for the Kings as both the Brooklyn Nets (15-47) and Washington Wizards (16-46) continued their losing ways again tonight. The two Eastern Conference teams, along with the Indiana Pacers, are all on long losing streaks. The Pacers and Wizards have lost seven in a row, and the Nets now sit at ten straight losses.

Mar 5, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Precious Achiuwa (9) shoots the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

Safe to say, every win the Kings get is going to make their lives more difficult. It's a sad but true reality that the Kings have to live with. The Kings hold the narrow lead in the race to the bottom with a 14-50 record after their latest loss,

There were good moments tonight, though. Precious Achiuwa had another career game with 29 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal on 12-of-16 shooting from the field. He continues to show he deserves a substantial contract this offseason. Whether it's from the Kings or another contending team, Achiuwa' s strong play of late has shifted from small sample to size to consistent contributor, which is huge for him in a contract year.

Clear Intention to Win

While Achiuwa's game stands out when looking at the box score, what really stands out when looking at this contest is who was in at the end of the game for Sacramento. DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, and Malik Monk were all in at the end of the game, along with Achiuwa and Drew Eubanks.

Eubanks seems random, but he had a big game off the bench, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds in 21:33 minutes off the bench. He was effective out there, and Doug Christie went with the hot hand. And that's the group that led the late-game surge to pull the game within striking distance.

We didn't see Christie go back to the rookies who struggled tonight. I've recently written about how Doug Christie is built to win, and that I don't think he or the team will do anything to lose intentionally. And I think we saw an example of that tonight.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, as building a culture and identity was a huge goal for Christie and the Kings this season, but it is certainly worth noting with the draft lottery likely coming down to the final week or day of the season.