Tag: New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) takes a shot against the Sacramento Kings guard Devon Carter in the first half at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans on Mon Feb 9, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After playing a great game last Saturday night, the Sacramento Kings (12-43) traveled to the “Big Easy” looking to break their 12 game losing streak only to run into a buzzsaw at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans (15-40) losing 120-94. Their offense was terrible. The young center Maxime Raynaud had a terrific game finishing with 21 points and 19 rebounds a bright spot in this losing effort.

Game recap: Along with Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, and Precious Achiuwa started the game for the Kings. After the first 12 minutes of play the Pelicans had a 31-26 lead. Achiuwa and DeRozan led the offense each scoring six points in the first quarter. Off the bench Devin Carter and Dylan Cardwell also took the floor chipping in four points.

The Pelicans went on a run to start the second quarter taking a 38-26 lead leaving the Kings in the dust. It was hardly the start Sacramento had envisioned. The Kings already had eight turnovers in just over a single quarter.

The Pelicans had scored 14 points on those Sacramento turnovers. With 2:29 left in the half the Kings had cut a 17 point Pelican lead to 11. The Kings were falling flat from beyond the arc going 2 of 13.

As the second quarter came to an end New Orleans had a 15 point lead 61-46. Sacramento had ten turnovers in the first half conceding 19 points. Maxime Raynaud had a great first half shooting for 11 points the only King in double digits and also had nine rebounds. Sacramento had a whole lot of work to do in the second half.

Sacramento did not get a whole lot done in the third quarter getting squashed 31-21 and trailing after three quarters 92-67. The Pelicans had dominated in every quarter with Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson leading the way. Raynaud put the team in a great position playing a great defensive game already with 16 rebounds.

Sacramento’s offense was terrible with 30 of 78 field goals and they were 3 of 25 from beyond the arc. They had been outplayed the entire game. The Pelicans largest lead of the game was 30 points.

New Orleans outscored the Kings in every quarter of this game. The Pelicans had handed the Kings their thirteenth loss in a row.

The Kings Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford and Devin Carter again had efficient games. Raynaud had a double double finishing with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Carter had 12 points and three rebounds and Clifford scored ten points with five rebounds.

The Kings could not hit a triple in this game going 4 of 31 and field goals were 40-99. It seemed that not much was dropping for Sacramento as they lost their 13 game in a row. The Pelicans scored 34 fast break points to the Kings 16.

Game notes: Despite losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday night the Kings played a solid game led by the young players who very nearly pulled off the upset. Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford, Devin Carter and Dylan Cardwell played one heck of a game.

Monday night the Kings failed to end their 12-game losing streak as they lost to the Pelicans. They were without Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk and of course De’Andre Hunter will be awaiting re-evaluation of his eye injury. The good news is that Hunter’s injury could have been so much worse possibly causing permanent damage to his eye so losing him for ten days is far better than what could have been.

The Kings next stop will be in Utah with a matchup against the Jazz Wednesday night with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 PM.

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.

The Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) goes to the basket against the New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) in the first half at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans on Sun Dec 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Sacramento Kings Domantas Sabonis scored a season high of 32 points on Thursday night and grabbed a season best 20 rebounds as the Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 111-109.

#2 The Kings DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and Keegan Murray and De’Aaron Fox each scored 18 points no doubt Murray and De’Aaron are a big part of the starting line up.

#3 The Kings are rolling they have won four of their last five games. So their getting some consistency.

#4 The Pelicans CJ McCullom did the heavy lifting hitting six 3 pointers and finished with a team leading 36 points but not good enough to beat the Kings.

#5 The Kings have now not scored less than 115 points in any of their last eight wins. The Kings 111 points against the Pelicans were their lowest score this season.

Barbara Mason covers Sacramento Kings basketball at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) passed the ball past the New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi, left, and guard CJ McCullum (3) in second half action at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans (AP News photo)

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The New Orleans Pelicans couldn’t keep the Sacramento Kings Domantas Sabonis down he led the Kings with 32 points and had 20 rebounds in the Kings win 111-109 against the Pelicans at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans.

#2 DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and the Kings De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray each scored 18 points that help contribute to the offense.

#3 Jeremiah the win give the Kings three in a row and they have now won five of their last six games and have improved over the last two weeks.

#4 The Pelicans CJ McCullom scored six 3 pointers and tallied 36 points. One the remarkable shots that McCullom took was a shot that hit off the glass while he was falling for three points as he got fouled by Fox with 1:20 remaining in the game.

#5 The Kings will return to Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are seventh in the Western Conference and have been playing .500 ball winning five of their last ten games. Tip off is 7:00pm PST on Mon Dec 16, 2024.

Join Jeremiah for the Kings podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com