Kings’ last home game of the season was a celebration, but something was missing

Sunday’s home finale at Golden 1 Center was a celebration of all things Kings — past, present and future.

The arena was accented in old-school colors in a nod to the franchise’s baby-blue beginnings in Sacramento. General manager Vlade Divac was honored for his recent selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Buddy Hield tied an NBA record for 3-point shooting and fans roared once more for a young team with a promising future.

The only thing missing was a win.

Ian Clark scored 31 points to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 133-129 victory over the Kings. Elfrid Payton had 25 points and 14 assists for the Pelicans (33-48), who had only eight players in uniform with Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and others out of the lineup.

Harrison Barnes scored 29 points to lead the Kings (39-42). De’Aaron Fox finished with 24 points and 11 assists. Marvin Bagley III came off the bench to post 19 points and 14 rebounds.

“Tough night for us and disappointing for us because we wanted to finish the game, finish the home season in front of our fans with a win,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “It’s still been a terrific season.”

The loss ensured a 13th consecutive losing season for the Kings, but they still have a chance to reach the 40-win mark Wednesday when they conclude the season on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“It’s disappointing, but they played well,” Fox said. “They made shots and they played a good game. It was a hard one to lose, especially with it being the last home game. We’ll try to get this last game and get to 40 wins.”

Fans entered the arena to find baby blue Kings sixth-man T-shirts draped over every seat. The Kings came out in matching City Edition uniforms.

The crowd gave Divac a standing ovation a day after he was chosen for induction into the Hall of Fame. Divac, one of the organization’s all-time greats, was honored with a video presentation during a first-quarter timeout.

The Kings raced to a 39-30 lead in the first quarter. They went up 59-45 on a basket by Bagley with 4:45 to play in the second quarter before the Pelicans battled back to cut the deficit to two at the break.

New Orleans carried that momentum into the second half, outscoring Sacramento 15-4 to start the third quarter. The Pelicans took an 81-72 lead on a 3-pointer by Kenrich Williams and extended the lead to 16 on a basket by Jahlil Okafor. The Kings stormed back, outscoring the Pelicans 22-6 over the final five minutes to tie the score going into the fourth quarter.

The Pelicans reestablished a nine-point lead on a 3-pointer by Solomon Hill early in the fourth, but the Kings wouldn’t quit. They came back to tie the score again on a 3-pointer by Barnes and took a 117-115 lead on a floater by Fox.

The Kings led 123-121 with 2:52 to play, but the Pelicans prevailed after getting big baskets from Payton and Williams in the final minutes. Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the score with 7.7 seconds remaining.

“You never want to end on a loss, but it is what it is, though,” Bagley said. “One more left and we just have to go out and give it our all.”

Hield went into the game with 597 career 3-point goals, two shy of Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard’s record of 599 over his first three NBA seasons. Hield tied the record with a 3-pointer from the left wing late in the third quarter. He will have a chance to pass Lillard in Wednesday’s season finale in Portland.

This story was originally published April 7, 2019 at 9:04 PM.