Pelicans Set Franchise Record For Road Victories In Wire-To-Wire Victory Against Sacramento

New Orleans got major contributions from it's stars Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum in the victory.

The Pelicans set a franchise record with their 27th road victory of the season, with a 135-123 win against the Sacramento Kings. New Orleans' victory puts them a full game ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the No. 7 seed in the West. New Orleans played again without Brandon Ingram, who missed his tenth straight game of the season, but is scheduled to return on Sunday per reports.

New Orleans seemed poised to add another win to their NBA's second-best road record. The Pelicans jumped out to a 9-0 lead and then a 17-0 run midway through the first quarter gave them a 23-point advantage. Sacramento countered with a 15-0 run to close the gap before the quarter ended. Trey Murphy III led the Pels with 12 first-quarter points, continuing his scoring streak after he scored 31 points on Tuesday night. New Orleans shot 6/11 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter and took a 34-23 lead into the second quarter.

Sacramento chipped into the lead further with a strong first half from De'Aaron Fox, who struggled the last time these two teams met. Fox scored just three points in the last matchup but scored 17 points in the first half on Thursday. New Orleans received a major scare when Zion Williamson took a fall in the second quarter and appeared to hurt his left wrist. He went to the locker room and did not return for the last six minutes of the half. Without him, the Kings took advantage in the interior, outscoring the Pels 28-18 in the first half. The New Orleans lead was down to six at halftime.

Zion Williamson returned to have a monster third quarter, scoring 17 points and helping the Pelicans extend their lead. The Kings chopped the Pelicans lead down to two points, but a Pelicans 20-13 close to the quarter gave them a nine-point lead heading into the final period. Fox scored eight more points in the period for the Kings, but the surprise was Harrison Barnes' 11 points in the period for 22 points through three quarters. New Orleans' lead was 98-89 heading into the final quarter.

Williamson started the quarter on the bench, but the Pels extended the lead to 14 points in the first three minutes of play. CJ McCollum made his next four three-point shots to seemingly put the game away with a 20-point lead. The Kings scored 11 straight points to cut the lead to nine, but New Orleans put the game away with Williamson scoring six points down the stretch and Trey Murphy III knocking down a huge three-point shot.

New Orleans made 22 three-pointers on the night, led by McCollum's nine three-pointers, a season-high for him. Both Williamson and McCollum scored 31 in the game, with Fox leading all scorers with 33 in the loss. The Pelicans have a chance for a 50-win season if they win their next two games, a road game against the Warriors and a home season-finale against the Los Angeles Lakers.