by Charlie O. Mallonee

Two four game streaks came to an end on Friday night in New Orleans. The Pelicans four game losing streak ended, and the Kings four game winning streak came to an end as New Orleans beat Sacramento 102-88.

The teams played each other very evenly in the first half. The Pelicans held a 46-42 halftime lead, but in the second half New Orleans just pulled away led by the play of former Sacramento King Tyreke Evans.

Evans finished the night as the Pelicans high scorer putting up 25 points by shooting 10 for 15 from the floor. Evans also made it a double-double game by adding 10 assists.

Anthony Davis had another big night for New Orleans as he scored 24 points in 40 minutes of playing time. Davis had six blocked shots in the game.

The Pelicans were also helped by their second unit that scored 29 points off the bench. Kings coach George Karl felt the New Orleans bench just outplayed the Sacramento bench. The Kings bench could only produce 12 points in game.

The most frustrating fact of the night was the Kings failure to take advantage of the monster numbers put up by DeMarcus Cousins.Cousins scored 39 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for his 44th double-double of the season. He shot 16 for 28 from the field and went seven for 12 from the free throw line. Cousins had three blocked shots.

Rudy Gay’s numbers were down but not significantly. Gay scored 18 points but shot just seven for 18 in the game.

Omri Casspi with 10 points was the only other Kings player to score in double figures.

The Kings backcourt was very quiet in the game. McLemore put up just seven points and Ray McCallum scored just two points.  Between the two guards they had just one point in the first half.

Sacramento shot 44.3-percent from the field for the game. They were seven for 15 (46.7-percent) from 3-point range. The Kings went to the free throw line just 18 times in the game and were successful just 11 times (61.1-percent). Free throw shooting is normally a strength for this Kings team.

The Kings assist to turnovers ratio was not good on Friday night. They had just 14 assists and turned the ball over 11 (12 points).

New Orleans shot 51.2-percent (43 for 84) from the floor. The Pelicans shot nine for 20 (45.0-percent) from 3-point land with most of those coming in the second half.

The Kings will Saturday and Sunday off and then must face the very defensive minded Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis on Monday night.