Another tough game to watch.

The first quarter started off like a seesaw. Back and forth, back and forth and then De’Aaron Fox exited the game with lower back stiffness and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Anthony Davis started to make an impact already, especially on defense where he already had three blocks. He averages about two a game. This would lead to a 32-21 score to end the first.

Anthony Davis didn’t play a big role in the second quarter and that’s because he didn’t have to. The New Orleans Pelicans had huge production off the bench with Nikola Mirotic and Ian Clark to lead the way in scoring. Davis ended the half with only seven points, while Mirotic had 13 followed by Clark with 11. For Sacramento, Zach Randolph led the way with 11 points, Buddy Hield had nine off the bench, and Kosta Koufos had six points to go with seven rebounds. Bogdan Bogdanovic didn’t score a single point as the Kings trailed 62-44 going into the half.

Even though each team scored 23 in the third, the Kings ended the third trailing 85-67. Randolph went up to 19 while Justin Jackson took his total to 14. The Kings continued to struggle with their shots while the Pelicans watched a very scary moment occur. Davis rolled his ankle while coming down with a rebound and headed to the locker room. He did walk out on his own.

The Kings tried to make a comeback in the fourth with a Pelicans team without Davis, but the keyword there is tried. They came within ten, but Jrue Holiday nailed two threes late in the fourth to halt any possible comeback. The Pelicans would win 114-101 to extend their winning streak to 10.

Best Performers

Buddy Hield: Buddy Buckets scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, where he was the main key in making a late comeback possible. However, his efforts weren’t enough as the Pelicans were making everything. Hield shot 7/17 and 4/11 from deep, including five rebounds. He led the bench in scoring.

Zach Randolph: Z-Bo scored 19 points on 8/17 shooting with two assists and five rebounds in 26 minutes. He started in place of Skal Labissiere who came off the bench and led the Kings starters in scoring.

Frank Mason III: With De’Aaron Fox leaving early with an injury, Mason took control as the point guard and did have himself a nice game in 29 minutes. He finished with 16 points and six assists on 5/10 shooting (one three) and he was 5/6 from the free throw line.

Notable Performers

Justin Jackson: Playing 30 minutes, Jackson had a solid game with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. He shot 5/9 overall and 2/5 from deep.

Skal Labissiere: Skal scored 14 points on 6/12 shooting with three assists, four rebounds and one big block in 27 minutes. He didn’t have a great game, but had his moments like that block.

Bogdan Bogdanovic: Well something nobody could’ve predicted today, Bogdanovic didn’t score a single point. He was 0/6 from the field in 26 minutes. He did, however, have three assists and four rebounds. Not good, but definitely notable…

Notable Stats

The Pelicans shot 57% from the field (47/83), compared to the Kings 42% (39/92). The Pelicans made eleven threes to the Kings nine. Sacramento edged out New Orleans from the free throw line, as they were 14/17 compared to the Pelicans 9/9.

The Kings were out-rebounded 40-39, out-assisted 26-20, out-stolen 6-4 and out-blocked 6-5. The Pelicans had more turnovers and fouls though, but it didn’t matter.

Nikola Mirotic had 26 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Holiday scored 23 and had eight assists. Anthony Davis added 17 points, five rebounds and five blocks before his injury and E’Twaun Moore scored 15.

Quick Takeaways

JaKaar Sampson brought the energy…again. The majority of his minutes came in the fourth. He scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.

Garrett Temple was also non-existent today. He only scored two points.

Bruno Caboclo played six minutes and was ¹⁄₃ from the field for two points. Did anyone else see him grab an offensive rebound and then look confused as to what to do with the ball in the fourth? He did score on that possession though.

Next Game

The Kings end their homestand against the Orlando Magic this Friday at 7:00 PM PST.

The Game in One Sentence

The Western Conference is going to be crazzzyyy.