Zion Williamson scored 25 points, Brandon Ingram added 23 and the host New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-112 on Wednesday night.
Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Jordan Hawkins scored 13, Naji Marshall had 12 and Jose Alvarado added 10 for the Pelicans, who defeated the Kings for the second time in three nights.
De’Aaron Fox scored 26, Domantas Sabonis had 23, Harrison Barnes scored 22, Trey Lyles put up 12 and Malik Monk tallied 10 to lead the Kings, who had won six in a row before arriving in New Orleans.
The Pelicans won for the fourth time in five games.
Barnes scored the Kings’ first seven points of the third quarter, and the visitors soon cut the Pelicans’ 14-point halftime lead to nine.
New Orleans rebuilt the margin to 13 points, but Fox scored seven points as Sacramento got within seven.
The Pelicans finished on a 9-2 run that produced a 93-79 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Lyles scored 10 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and Monk had six points during an 18-4 run to start the fourth quarter that pulled the Kings even at 97.
The score was tied three more times and the lead changed hands twice before back-to-back baskets by Williamson and Ingram gave New Orleans a 113-108 edge with 1:37 left.
Monk made two free throws before Fox missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining. Ingram’s dunk produced a five-point lead with 16 seconds to go.
Sabonis matched his game total of 10 points from Monday night as the Kings opened a 27-19 lead.
Alvarado scored five points and Dyson Daniels had four during a 13-3 run that gave the Pelicans a 32-30 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The lead changed hands four times and the score was tied three times early in the second quarter.
Williamson scored eight points, Sacramento went more than seven minutes without making field goal and New Orleans built a 17-point lead.
Sasha Vezenkov made a 3-pointer to end the Kings’ field-goal drought with 17 seconds remaining, leaving the Pelicans with a 64-50 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
