Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) shoots a three pointer over the New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) in the first half at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans on Wed Feb 12, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Last Saturday night the Sacramento Kings (28-26) won a close game over the New Orleans Pelicans (12-42) and Wednesday night the Kings

The Kings won the first of a back to back series with New Orleans 119-111. They will be looking to sweep the Pelicans Thursday night in their fourth matchup this season. Keon Ellis had a banner night off the bench hitting 27 points with five rebounds.

Domantas Sabonis had his 48th double double of the season with 15 rebounds and 16 points. DeMar DeRozan finished with 24 points and Zach LaVine with 23. Keegan Murray did not have a great shooting night but showed up defensively with seven rebounds having the unenviable task of guarding Zion Williamson who had the Pelican high with 33 points. The loss was the Pelicans tenth loss in a row.

Game recap: Sacramento did get a nice start going on a 12-0 run leading after the first 12 minutes 34-26. The Pelicans fought hard to cut the deficit to a single point in the second quarter and the Kings had loosened up letting the Pelicans back into the game.

Sacramento had at one time led by 16 points. Mid-way through the second quarter, Domantas Sabonis committed his third personal creating a shaky situation for the point forward. At 8:53 the Pelicans took their first lead of the game going on a 24-6 run.

The Sacramento offense had drastically cooled off in a wild turnaround. New Orleans had taken a 42-37 lead. The Kings answered going on a 9-0 run taking the lead back 46-37. Sacramento’s Keon Ellis was on a tear with 22 points in 14 minutes of play leading both teams in scoring.

The Kings kept letting the Pelicans challenge and with two minutes left in the half, New Orleans trailed by three points 57-54. Sacramento was having a rough time putting any distance between themselves and the feisty Pelicans. With 1:11 left in the half the game was tied at 59. At the half the Kings had broken the tie leading 65-63.

This was a wild second quarter with the Kings letting the Pelicans dictate the pace when they had it all going in the opening quarter. They would have some work to do in the second half and that would have to come from Zach LaVine and Keegan Murray who had been quiet in the first half only scoring three points each.

Among the starters, DeMar DeRozan had the high with 16 points but it was Keon Ellis who was really playing hard scoring 22 points in fifteen minutes of play. Sacramento had a lot of turnovers in the first half with ten and did not want a repeat of the 21 turnovers in their last game against the Mavericks Monday night. (They would finish the game with only 11 turnovers)

The Pelicans had three starters in double figures with Zion Williamson leading hitting 19 points. Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado also had a good first half chipping in 13 points apiece.

The third quarter remained close and with under three minutes left the Kings pushed out a 90-81 lead. They went on a 8-0 run hitting a number of three’s having hit 14 so far in the game. Zach LaVine got into double digits in the quarter now scoring a total of 12 points. Sacramento would have to hang tight in the fourth quarter with the Pelicans nipping at their heels. The Kings took a 92-86 lead into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter remained fairly close into the final minutes of the game. Sacramento began to string together stops and with under three minutes left on the clock the Kings had a 113-104 lead. Sacramento continued to extend their lead and with under a minute left in the game had a 115-107 lead and this game was a wrap. The final was 119-111.

Beating a team four times in one season is not easy and Sacramento will have their work cut out for them in the final game with the Pelicans this season. They have all the weapons to do it but need to execute Thursday night. They will have to contain Zion Williamson, a tough assignment.

Game recap: Wednesday night, the Kings traveled to New Orleans for a matchup with the Pelicans in the first of a double-header. The Kings were focused on a far different start than the one they had in their last contest with New Orleans back on Sat Feb 8th which was less than a week ago.

In the first quarter of that game the Pelicans had taken a 29-9 lead and the Kings had to fight hard to make up that deficit. Thanks to a lopsided third quarter in which the Kings overwhelmed the Pelicans 45-22, which had a lot to do with the eventual 123-118 win for Sacramento, they do not want a repeat of the first quarter in that game. They got a strong start in Wednesday night’s game.

The two teams will be back at it Thursday night at Smoothie King Center with tipoff scheduled for 5:00 PM. Sacramento will be looking for their third win over New Orleans in less than a week.