Pelicans (28-27), Kings (29-23)
New Orleans has been without Zion Williamson for a month and found out Sunday afternoon that Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas wouldn’t play vs. Sacramento. Fortunately for the Pelicans, second-year pro Trey Murphy – along with youngsters such as Naji Marshall and Kira Lewis Jr. – were more than enough to win anyway. By a huge margin. Capping off a very successful weekend in the Smoothie King Center, New Orleans swept a back-to-back by pounding Sacramento, less than 24 hours after surging past the Lakers. The Pelicans entered the weekend on a 10-game losing streak, but they regained their previous form on the home floor, where they had been red-hot for much of November and December. All 11 Pelicans who checked into the game scored, while all but one handed out an assist. “We’re extremely proud of everyone on our team,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said. “Everyone that touched the floor contributed... It started with our defense getting deflections, challenging shots, rebounding the ball.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Larry Nance Jr. split a pair of free throws midway through the third quarter to give New Orleans a 30-point lead at 88-58. Nance knocked the ball away from Domantas Sabonis and dropped in a layup two possessions later to give the Pelicans 90 points, with six-plus minutes still remaining in the third quarter.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Game 114 of Murphy’s brief NBA career may have been his best. The forward followed up a splendid Saturday performance – which he broke open in the fourth quarter – by shooting lights-out against the Kings. Murphy probably would’ve registered a new career high in scoring (it’s 32), but he wasn’t needed during the latter portion of the fourth quarter in a rout. He "settled" for 30 points on only 11 shots from the field. He went 6/8 from three-point range.
BY THE NUMBERS
11: New Orleans steals, led by Jaxson Hayes’ career-high four thefts.
57.1: New Orleans shooting percentage from the field, the team’s fifth-best rate in a game this season. Oddly, the season high (58.4) came in a Dec. 17 loss at Phoenix.
53.8: New Orleans shooting percentage from three-point range (14 of 26), a season high in that category. It was only the second time in 2022-23 that the Pelicans made at least half of their trey attempts.
Pelicans Highlights: Trey Murphy III scores 30 points vs. Sacramento Kings 2/5/23
REVISITING FANDUEL KEYS TO THE GAME
SOPHOMORES VS. SAC
Murphy built on his stellar Saturday vs. the Lakers with an even greater impact Sunday. Meanwhile, Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado didn’t make a big dent on the stat sheet, but both picked up a steal and provided their usual doses of energy.
BENCH PRODUCTION
Willy Hernangomez provided phenomenal production in his backup center role, after Nance was shifted to the starting lineup in place of Valanciunas. Hernangomez notched a 22-16 game in only modest minutes (28:12). Overall, the NOLA reserves totaled 50 points.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
With De’Aaron Fox (personal reasons) sidelined for Sacramento, NOLA’s guards didn’t have to worry about that quicksilver handful on defense. CJ McCollum also didn’t need to produce a big game, but he did anyway, pouring in 24 points. Like Murphy, he shot 9/11 from the floor.