Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Alexandra Evans

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings (10-31) and the New Orleans Pelicans (20-19) tipped off at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, March 7, to whom they fell 114-101.

In the first quarter, the Kings’ greatest lead over the Pelicans was two points, compared to the Pelicans’ 11-point lead at the end. Beginning at the halfway point of the quarter, their lead over the Kings gradually increased from one point to 11 through the end of the stanza. The score was 32-21 after 12 minutes of play.

In the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Pelicans upped their score by seven and the Kings by four; they still trailed the Pelicans by more than 10 points. Cheick Diallo managed to bring the Pelicans’ score into the 40s while the Kings remained in the 20s.

Then, with 7:20 remaining, Ian Clark made a jump shot to bring the Pelicans’ lead to 20 (49-29). Buddy Hield then made two free throws to break the 20-point lead, and then a three-pointer assisted by Jackson, an impressive move by Hield which immediately followed the two free throws.

Though, the Kings had a long way to go regardless. After the first half, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18; the score was 62-44.

At halftime, Randolph still exceeded the Kings with 11 points; Buddy Hield led the team in three-pointers with five. Nikola Mirotic led the Pelicans in points (13) and three-point shots (3).

Randolph opened the third quarter with two baskets to make the score 62-46. Anthony Davis responded, making sure the Pelicans kept a double-digit lead over the home team with a three-pointer, followed by a jump shot and then an alley-oop shot to bring the score to 71-48. The 20-point lead was temporarily broken after Garrett Temple and Jackson both got driving layups. Davis responded yet again with a three-pointer for the Pelicans, and Emeka Okafor added another two points with a jump shot.

For the remaining four minutes, the Pelicans tried to keep their 20 point lead, while the Kings made an effort to break it. After 36 minutes, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18 points once again (85-67).

The final quarter opened with a layup from Hield for the Kings, one from Moore for the Pelicans, and then a jump shot from Skal Labissiere for the Kings. Two consecutive free throws from Hield and JaKarr Sampson cut the Kings’ trail to 11 points, then, with 3:48 remaining, Labissiere got a layup to put the Kings behind by only 10 points, the smallest deficit since the first half.

The lead was briefly cut to the single digits when Hield made a jump shot with 3:12 left, but quickly shot back up to double digits when Mirotic made a three-point jump shot.

Hield finished first in points for the Kings with 20, which included 11 three-point shots, another team-high. Mirotic exceeded the Pelicans with 26 points and six three-pointers.

The Pelicans had a nine-game winning streak prior to the match, earning their 10th against the Kings.

“It would be nice to be the team that breaks [an opponent’s winning streak],” Kings Head Coach Dave Joerger said in a post-game conference. “But we don’t ask them to try harder for that purpose.”

Sampson added, “When you’re on a win streak, you’re comfortable… the flow is good, the energy is good, so [we want to] disrupt the energy. Tonight, we kind of waited too long to do that, but that is part of growing as a young team.”

The Kings will take on the Orlando Magic this Friday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. PST at Golden 1 Center.