New player provides spark as Sacramento Kings overcome huge deficit in win over Pelicans
Domantas Sabonis posted his league-leading 46th double-double and Jake LaRavia provided a spark off the bench in his Sacramento debut as the Kings overcame a big deficit to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118 on Saturday at Golden 1 Center.
Sabonis had 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Kings (26-26), who trailed by as many as 20 in the first quarter.
Zion Williamson scored 40 points on 16-of-21 shooting for the Pelicans (12-40), who have lost eight in a row.
The Kings will return to action when they open a three-game road trip against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
Stat leaders
Zach LaVine scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting for Sacramento. Keegan Murray had 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Malik Monk added 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting with seven assists while Keon Ellis came off the bench to post 13 points, four rebounds and three steals.
CJ McCollum scored 31 points for New Orleans. Trey Murphy III had 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Halftime report
The Kings trailed by 20 in the first period after going 3 of 15 from the field and 0 of 5 from 3-point range to start the game.
LaRavia came off the bench to give Sacramento a spark as the Kings cut the deficit to seven late in the first quarter. The Kings found themselves trailing by 18 again in the second quarter, but they fought back to get within nine at the halftime break.
Williamson led all scorers in the first half with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The Pelicans shot 54.5% from the field while making 11 of 20 (.550) from 3-point range. The Kings shot 51.2% overall, but they went 6 of 18 (.333) from beyond the arc and committed 12 turnovers.
Second half
The Kings staged a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to four early in the second half. They got within one on two free throws by DeRozan and took a 78-77 lead when Ellis came up with a steal and passed to Murray for a dunk.
The Kings outscored the Pelicans 45-22 in the third quarter and carried a 99-87 lead into the fourth. Sacramento led by as many as 18 before New Orleans staged an 18-2 run to cut the deficit to two on a basket by McCollum with 5:39 to go.
The Pelicans got within one on a 3-pointer by McCollum with 4:08 remaining, but the Kings got big baskets from Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan down the stretch.
Huerter speaks out
Kevin Huerter discussed his final weeks in Sacramento after being traded to the Chicago Bulls in the deal that sent De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio while bringing LaVine to Sacramento.
“Sacramento was a little up and down,” Huerter told Chicago media. “I didn’t really get much opportunity there the last couple months. The flow and the rhythm of the game, I think it was very choppy the past year plus. The fact that we’re going to play up and down here, the ball is going to move side to side, no one’s really going to dominate the ball and we’re not going to run the same action over and over again — it feels like it’s a place that I should be a better fit in.”
Daishen Nix signing
The Kings announced before Saturday’s game they have signed Daishen Nix to a 10-day contract.
Nix, 24, is a 6-foot-4 guard. He spent his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 12.5 minutes per game.
Up next
The Kings will visit the Mavericks on Monday at American Airlines Center.
Anthony Davis made his Mavericks debut in a 116-105 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday after being traded to Dallas in the blockbuster deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Davis put up 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks before leaving the game in the third quarter with a noncontact lower-body injury. Davis said the injury was “nothing serious,” but his status for Monday’s game could be in question.
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM.
