NBA

New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings

· National Basketball Association
12-40, 4-22 Away
Final
118 - 123

26-26, 14-13 Home

Sabonis had 27 and Kings rally from 20 down to beat Pelicans 123-118

Zion's 40 points in comeback not enough as Kings hold on

Zach LaVine added 22 points in his best game for the Kings since being Chicago Bulls last week. Keegan Murray had 19 points with eight rebounds.

Zion Williamson scored a season-high 40 points for New Orleans, CJ McCollum had 31 points while Trey Murphy III scored 20.

The game began as if it might be a blowout but ended in a flourish.

New Orleans, which led 29-9 less than nine minutes into the first quarter, trailed most of the fourth quarter and got within 121-118 on a pair of free throws by McCollum with 15.2 seconds remaining.

Jonas Valanciunas, acquired by the Kings at the trade deadline, made two free throws to help secure the win.

Takeaways Pelicans: The backcourt tandem of McCollum and Jose Alvarado combined for 36 points, 12 assists and four steals, making it difficult for the Kings to double-team Williamson.

Kings: It was another shaky night as coach Doug Christie tries to integrate the newcomers into his system. On the plus side, LaVine was more aggressive and on the attack than he was in his first two games with Sacramento.

Key moment After Sabonis picked up his fourth foul with 4 1/2 minutes left in the third, the Kings closed the quarter on a 22-9 run.

Key stat The Pelicans made 14 3-pointers, matching their most over the past nine games.

Up next Pelicans: End their four-game road trip on Monday night against Oklahoma City.

Kings: Face the Mavericks in Dallas on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

SAC leads series 2-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 118 - 123
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 118 - 123
4th 3.1 Zach LaVine defensive rebound 118 - 123
4th 3.1 Trey Murphy III misses 31-foot three point pullup jump shot 118 - 123
4th 8.1 Keon Ellis enters the game for DeMar DeRozan 118 - 123

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/no.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNO https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/sac.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSAC
43-90 FG 43-91
48 Field Goal % 47
14-36 3PT 11-41
39 Three Point % 27
18-25 FT 26-33
72 Free Throw % 79
39 Rebounds 51
5 Offensive Rebounds 11
34 Defensive Rebounds 40
27 Assists 24
12 Steals 10
8 Blocks 7
16 Turnovers 18
0 Team Turnovers 0
16 Total Turnovers 18
1 Technical Fouls 1
1 Total Technical Fouls 1
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
27 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 14
23 Fast Break Points 28
58 Points in Paint 56
24 Fouls 22
20 Largest Lead 18
Sacramento Kings Sacramento Kings Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Devin Carter, G Day-To-Day Dec 23
Keegan Murray, F Day-To-Day Dec 23
Zach LaVine, G Out Dec 23
Domantas Sabonis, F Out Dec 19
Drew Eubanks, F Out Dec 13
New Orleans Pelicans New Orleans Pelicans Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jordan Poole, G Day-To-Day Dec 25
Herbert Jones, F Out Dec 25
Dejounte Murray, G Out Sep 25

Game Information

Golden 1 Center

Location: Sacramento, CA
Attendance: 17,832 · Capacity:

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
San Antonio 23 7 .767 - W8
Houston 18 10 .643 4 W1
Memphis 14 16 .467 9 W1
Dallas 12 20 .375 12 L1
New Orleans 8 23 .258 15.5 L1

2025-26 Pacific Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
LA Lakers 19 10 .655 - L3
Phoenix 16 13 .552 3 W1
Golden State 16 15 .516 4 W3
LA Clippers 8 21 .276 11 W2
Sacramento 7 23 .233 12.5 L1
Full Standings

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