Russell Westbrook #18 of the Sacramento Kings is guarded by Saddiq Bey #41 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Golden 1 Center on March 05, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Thursday night in what I dubbed “The Tank Off Championship.”

The Kings entered the game in last place in the Western Conference with a 14-49 record and losers of their last two games. The Pelicans came in with only a slightly better record of 19-44, as both teams had hopes of finishing toward the bottom of the league in hopes of a top draft pick.

The Kings fell to the Pelicans 133-123 on Thursday night.

In the first quarter, the Kings got off to a hot start in the game to take a quick lead over the Pelicans. Led by 10 points from DeMar DeRozan in the first, the Kings outscored the Pelicans 30-26 to open the game. The Kings looked to maintain their same effort levels and keep the Pelicans at bay heading into halftime.

In the second quarter, the Kings gave up 41 points and slipped into a deficit heading into halftime. The Kings managed 33 points in the second, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Pelicans as they took a 67-63 lead into the break. Trey Murphy led the charge for the Pelicans with 10 points in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, the Kings did their best to keep the Pelicans at arm’s length but couldn’t accomplish their task. The Kings were outscored by the Pelicans 38-28 in the third quarter as they fell behind by 14 points heading into the fourth quarter. Precious Achiuwa did what he could in the third to keep things close, scoring 11 points in the quarter, but it was to no avail as Saddiq Bey countered for the Pelicans with 10 points of his own.

In the fourth quarter, as the Kings entered it down 14, they managed to outscore the Pelicans, but it was too little too late. The Kings scored 32 points in the fourth compared to the Pelicans’ 28, but ultimately fell 133-123.

Precious Achiuwa led all scorers in the game with 29 points in just over 40 minutes of action. Achiuwa has made the most of his renewed opportunity in Sacramento as he has gone from out of the league to playing high-level basketball with the Kings.

After the game, Doug Christie had some succinct praise for the 26-year-old Achiuwa.

“Precious, he’s been playing some bona fide basketball,” the Kings head coach said postgame.

The Kings fell to 14-50 with the loss and remain the NBA’s worst team.

In what has certainly been a frustrating season for Russell Westbrook, the Kings midseason pickup, he unloaded on the media after the game. In his postgame comments, Russ went after multiple media members directly and questioned all of our reporting on the team this season. In a largely baseless tirade, the veteran point guard went one by one through us in the media asking for opinions, as he added he believed the coverage was “to stir stuff up.”

“What I don’t like is… you guys, the job is to talk about the game, what’s happening in the game, not stir up a bunch of—I don’t want to cuss you because I want to get fined—but stir up a bunch of stuff that is not accurate. And that’s my problem,” Russell said to us after the game.

Westbrook failed to provide specifics after Sacramento Bee writer Chris Biderman asked him directly what he had said to deserve this critique.

Russ responded to that question with, “I don’t want to go down that road.”

The Kings will stay home to take on the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at 6 p.m. PST inside Golden 1 Center.