The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t lose a single game to the Sacramento Kings last season. But, as Pelicans fans are well aware, this season is not last season.
Sacramento walked out of the Smoothie King Center with a narrow 111-109 victory, extending their own winning streak to a modest three games, while handing the Pelicans their third consecutive loss.
CJ McCollum led the Pelicans with a season-high 36 points (6-11 3PA). Trey Murphy III added 21 and Dejounte Murray posted 20 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.
Domantas Sabonis was huge for the Kings, putting up 32 points and 20 rebounds, to pace four Sacramento players in double figures. DeMar DeRozan added 29 and De’Aaron Fox finished with a near triple-double with 18 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
New Orleans opened the game quickly, jumping out to a 7-2 lead before the Kings scored 14 unanswered to get back in front. Trailing 20-11, Murphy started warming up. He scored 11 of the Pelicans’ final 15 points in the period to pull New Orleans within two of Sacramento at the end of the first quarter.
Brandon Boston Jr. and McCollum got going early in the second. Boston opened the frame with a couple of jumpers, and McCollum bookended a jumper with a pair of three-pointers as the Pelicans took a 38-34 advantage.
The remainder of the first half was largely a back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to pull away from the other. Sacramento leaned on its duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, who combined for 30 points, 17 rebounds, and three assists in the first 24 minutes. Sabonis posted a double-double, with 20 points and 12 boards, in the first half.
The Pelicans were led by Murphy and McCollum who put up a combined 28 points in the half. Murphy scored 16, all in the first quarter. New Orleans made eight three-pointers on 22 attempts, their second-most in the first half this season.
Dejounte Murray took the reins in the third quarter, opening the period with seven points and forcing Mike Brown to call an early timeout.
Sacramento would respond with a 13-5 run of its own sparked by DeMar DeRozan, who scored 11 of the Kings’ points.
The Kings kept scoring as the Pels were plagued by turnovers and fouls. Sacramento outscored New Orleans 38-28 in the third quarter to take an eight point lead into the fourth.
The downward slide continued into the final frame as the Kings opened with an 11-5 spurt to push their lead to 14 with 6:48 to play.
But the Pelicans had one more run in them. McCollum would bury back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to seven points with 4:20 remaining. CJ’s sixth three-pointer brought the Pelicans to within three points with two minutes to play.
With 1:24 on the clock, McCollum went glass for the hoop and the foul, making it 109-111.
Following a De’Aaron Fox miss the Pelicans had an opportunity to go for the tie or the win. Unfortunately, the Pelicans didn’t get a chance at either as Dejounte Murray backed his way into the lane before losing the ball without taking a shot.
With the loss the Pelicans fall to 5-21 on the season. Last season, the Pelicans didn’t lose their 21st game until January 29th.
But then again, this is not last season.
The Pelicans now hit the road to face the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. New Orleans beat Indiana 125-118 on Nov. 1.
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