Pelicans Bow Before Kings, Drop to 12th in West

A sluggish third-quarter performance contributed to the New Orleans Pelicans (31-34) losing 123-108 on the road against the Sacramento Kings (38-26) at the Golden 1 Center.

The defeat damaged the Pelicans' dim postseason hopes as the teams split the season series wins thus far.

Sacramento played without its leading scorer De'Aaron Fox who is nursing a hamstring strain. The Kings are NBA's best scoring team, although they rank 26th in defensive efficiency. New Orleans took advantage of the latter early in the ballgame as the game started as a back-and-forth affair before being tied at halftime.

The Pelicans went on an 18-7 run in the first quarter, grabbing a 32-25 lead. Trey Murphy III was the Pels leading scorer in the first quarter with 6 points as New Orleans led 32-29.

Sacramento began the second quarter showing their offensive prowess with a quick 8-0 run before Pelicans coach Willie Green called a timeout. New Orleans' offense settled down with crisp first-half ball movement. The Pelicans dished out 18 assists in the first half on 23 made shots. Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 24 points and seven assists. Jonas Valanciunas, who returned from a calf injury, had 11 points and five rebounds in the first 24 minutes. The score was even at 59 going into halftime.

New Orleans has lost four of the last five third quarters, and Monday night was no different. The quarter and game quickly fell apart for the Pels as the Kings outscored New Orleans 38-20. Sacramento was hot shooting from outside and capitalized on four Pelicans turnovers leading to 10 points in the stanza. The Kings finished with a 10-0 run and never looked back.

New Orleans is heading home as losers of 2 of 3 on this road trip. CJ McCollum had an especially rough night, scoring 14 points on 6/14 from the field, while the Pelicans bench added only 21 points.

Kings sharpshooter Kevin Huerter led all scorers with 25 points. All-Star Domantas Sabonis recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Sacramento was a +15 from the 3-point line and a +6 in the paint.

New Orleans has lost 15 straight games to opponents with a winning record. More importantly, the Pelicans drop to 12th in the Western Conference standings as they sit three games out of the 5th seed.

The New Orleans Pelicans will host the Dallas Mavericks on Wed. Mar. 8 for a 6:30 PM CT tip-off at Smoothie King Center.

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