Pelicans 132, Kings 120: New Orleans gets its first win, Sacramento falls to 0-5
Back-to-back 39-point quarters and 25 Kings turnovers gave New Orleans its first victory of the season.
New Orleans has its first win of the season. The Pelicans beat the winless Sacramento Kings 132-120 on Thursday night, with both teams having entered the game at 0-4. The result moves New Orleans to 1-4 and drops Sacramento to 0-5, and 0-3 on the road, according to ESPN.
How the game turned
Sacramento led 30-24 after the first quarter. From there New Orleans scored 39 points in the second quarter and 39 in the third, quarter scores of 24, 39, 39 and 30 against the Kings' 30, 31, 27 and 32. The Pelicans led 63-61 at halftime and, ESPN notes, never trailed after Trey Murphy III's free throws made it 55-54 with 1:45 left in the first half. A 16-2 run in the middle of the third quarter, in which Zion Williamson scored six points and Murphy five, built the separation.
Turnovers and the paint
The Kings committed 25 turnovers, which The Kings Herald reports led to 40 New Orleans points. The same report says the Pelicans shot 60% from the field and scored 80 points in the paint, while Sacramento shot 52% but could not turn that into stops. ESPN reports New Orleans' bench outscored Sacramento's reserves 41-8.
Williamson scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, with every made shot in the paint. Jeremiah Fears also had 22, along with a career-high 13 assists and eight rebounds, and Murphy added 18. The Kings Herald counts seven Pelicans in double figures. New Orleans played without Jordan Poole (ankle) and Dejounte Murray (birth of a child), ESPN reports.
Sacramento's side
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 34 points, the most of his young career, and had a double-double, but The Kings Herald reports he also had six turnovers and went 3-of-11 from three. De'Andre Hunter and Precious Achiuwa scored 24 apiece and Zach LaVine had 21, with a team-worst plus/minus of -25, according to the same report. Domantas Sabonis, who entered the night leading the NBA in rebounding at 16.5 per game, had 15 rebounds and seven assists, and seven turnovers, ESPN reports. (The two outlets differ on Acuff's assist total, so Torch does not cite one.)
What it means
For New Orleans, it is the first win under new coach Jamahl Mosley and a 1-0 lead in the season series. For Sacramento, the problem on this night was less shooting than ball security: a team that made over half its shots still lost by 12 because of the giveaways and the points the Pelicans scored off them. The Kings' next game, per The Kings Herald, is against the Memphis Grizzlies.