Kings and Pelicans finally clash in long-awaited nationally televised game, but ...
The Kings and New Orleans Pelicans were locked in a three-way tie for ninth in the Western Conference when they suited up for a nationally televised game at Golden 1 Center on March 11.
The contest had major playoff implications for both teams, but in a surreal scene shortly before tip-off, the game was postponed, fans were instructed to leave the arena and the NBA season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
America had to wait five long months, but the Kings and Pelicans finally played that game Tuesday night on TNT, this time in the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World Resort’s AdventHealth Arena. Unfortunately, the stakes had changed. Only one game separated the Kings and Pelicans in the standings, but both teams had already been eliminated, prompting both coaches to sit some key starters.
Harrison Barnes posted 25 points and eight rebounds to lead the Kings to a 112-106 victory over the Pelicans. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 16 points for the Kings (30-41), who have won two games in the bubble, both against New Orleans.
Harry Giles III had 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in one of his final games for the Kings before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Jabari Parker also came off the bench to score 12 points.
Jahlil Okafor scored 21 points for the Pelicans (30-41), who have also gone 2-5 in the bubble. Frank Jackson had 18 points. Lonzo Ball scored 16.
Barnes, who missed time with the team after contracting COVID-19, logged 37 minutes and provided maximum effort for the Kings. To his credit, Barnes is still sporting the rather unsightly beard he vowed not to shave unless the Kings got to .500.
“Harrison’s great,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “I love coaching Harrison. He was very solid for us tonight in his effort, which he normally is. As far as the beard, listen, I respect him. He said he wasn’t going to shave it until we got to .500 and I don’t think he thought it would go all season, but he’s kept it going so I respect him for that.”
Bogdanovic said the Kings were happy to get a win even if it was in a meaningless game.
“Those games are really tough to play,” he said. “You can tell that, especially since both teams are eliminated and when they are both eliminated, it’s hard to play these games. Everyone is trying to play hard, but not to get hurt or thinking about something else. For our team, it was a huge win for us after a couple bad days and elimination (from the postseason). It’s good to get the win at the end.”
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was held out due to a sore left shoulder. Richaun Holmes missed his second game in a row with a sore right hip and Kent Bazemore missed his third consecutive game with a sore left calf. The Pelicans chose to sit Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram due to knee soreness and Jrue Holiday due to an elbow contusion.
The game was competitive despite the circumstances. The Kings led 62-61 following a first-half that featured two ties and 23 lead changes. Players went to the floor for loose balls. Giles threw up a silky hook shot and threw down an emphatic dunk. Alex Len even made a 3-pointer.
The Kings carried a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and went up by 13 on a dunk by Parker. The Pelicans cut the deficit to four in the final minute, but two free throws by Nemanja Bjelica helped the Kings hold on for the win.
“If we’re going to play basketball, we’re going to try to compete and we’re going to try to win,” Walton said. “We haven’t had a great bubble, we’ve had some nice moments. We’ve given ourselves some chances, but we’ve been losing and we haven’t been playing any defense. Those are things that we have to get fixed and tonight was an opportunity to get better at those things, and I thought our guys responded nicely in the second half with that.”
Bench contributions
The Kings got nice contributions from some players who haven’t seen much playing time in the bubble.
Giles had a chance to showcase his game for the rest of the league and he wasn’t shy about it, attempting 17 shots. Parker was an efficient 6 of 6 from the field and showed some explosiveness. Yogi Ferrell knocked down some shots and heard the bubble version of Golden 1 Center public address announcer Scott Moak’s “YO-GI FERR-ELL” call, courtesy of Indiana Pacers PA man Tim Sinclair, who “has adopted the call here in Orlando to help us feel at home,” a Kings spokesman said.
Walton said he was pleased to see those players do well.
“It’s always nice because, look, I was one of those players at times in my career when you don’t get the opportunities and the minutes but you work just as hard as everybody,” Walton said. “So when you do see guys like that get a chance to play and they play well, as a coach that does feel good.”
Record books
Hield’s 3-pointer with 59.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter gave him 776 in three-plus seasons the Kings. Hield moved ahead of Mike Bibby (775) for third in franchise history.
Hield, who made 278 3-pointers last season to shatter Peja Stojakovic’s single-season team record of 240 in 2003-04, finished with 11 points in 19 minutes. He made 4 of 5 field-goal attempts and 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
Up next
The Kings will conclude the 2019-20 season when they play the Los Angeles Lakers in the last of eight seeding games Thursday morning. The Lakers went 3-4 and suffered a three-game losing streak over their first seven games in the bubble, but they have already secured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis both played against the Nuggets. The Lakers could choose to rest them against the Kings, but coach Frank Vogel might want to see the team establish a better rhythm heading into what could be a difficult first-round playoff series against red-hot Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Kings schedule/results
Spurs 129, Kings 120
Magic 132, Kings 116
Mavericks 114, Kings 110 (OT)
Kings 140, Pelicans 125
Nets 116, Kings 103
Rockets 129, Kings 112
Kings 112, Pelicans 106
Aug. 13 vs. Lakers, 10:30 a.m. (NBCS)
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 8:43 PM.
