Kings (8-17), Pelicans (13-13)
Despite a third straight huge night by DeMarcus Cousins against his former team, Sacramento improbably rallied from a late fourth-quarter deficit, then outplayed New Orleans in overtime, pulling off a come-from-behind road win.
Cousins poured in 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Anthony Davis notched 18 points in his return from injury, helping give the Pelicans a 100-91 lead with 3:32 remaining. The Kings answered with an 8-0 run, then tied the game at 102 on a Buddy Hield off-balance three-pointer with 36 seconds left. In overtime and late in the fourth quarter, Zach Randolph finished off his 35-point night with key baskets, as Sacramento scored 12 of the first 17 OT points.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Sacramento grabbed a defensive rebound off a New Orleans missed three-pointer with 53 seconds left in OT, then bled 21 seconds off the game clock, leading to Frank Mason free throws. Mason’s two tosses put the Kings up 116-107 with just 32 seconds remaining.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Cousins has now scored 37, 41 and 38 points against Sacramento in three meetings since joining New Orleans in a February trade last season. The previous two matchups resulted in Pelicans victories, however, including the third-biggest comeback in New Orleans franchise history in October at Golden 1 Center. On Friday, he finished 14/30 from the field and 6/7 at the foul line. He also grabbed three steals but contributed to New Orleans’ turnover issues, with eight.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“(Sacramento) played better than we did. They deserved to win. That’s the bottom line. It doesn’t matter what bothered me or didn’t bother me. And they didn’t stop playing (in the fourth quarter). If you don’t play 48 minutes, they continue to play, and the end result is what happens.” – Alvin Gentry giving credit to the Kings, while saying that the Pelicans did not finish the game in the final minutes of regulation
“Even with the frustration, we can’t let one game affect the rest of our season. We’ve just got to continue to learn from our mistakes. We’ve got to come out and play with urgency every night, compete at a high level every night, no matter if (the opponent is) 2-20, or 20-2.” – Cousins on the loss
“We just didn’t execute down the stretch, and (Sacramento) made shots.” – Ian Clark, who had a season-best 15 points, on what transpired in the fourth quarter that led to the Kings coming back
BY THE NUMBERS
46-35: Sacramento rebounding advantage, led by Randolph’s 13 boards. The Kings outhustled the Pelicans in several key sequences to track down offensive rebounds, leading that category 11-7.
17: New Orleans turnovers, leading to 22 Sacramento points. The Kings were actually worse, coughing up 20 turnovers, but the Pelicans only converted them into a mere 12 points.