The Sacramento Kings missed a chance to pick up a big road win at the end of the season, falling in an extremely close contest to the New Orleans Pelicans, 131-129.
Neither team led by more than seven points, and there were 23 lead changes and 12 ties.
De’Aaron Fox scored 25, Domantas Sabonis had 21 and Keegan Murray added 20 to lead the Kings. Brandon Ingram had 24 to pace the Pelicans.
With the loss, the Kings fall to 46-33. They’ll need to go 2-1 in the final three games to match their real-life win total of 48.
2022-23 Sacramento Kings Replay Home Page
Sacramento took what would be its largest lead of the game (six points) at 17-11. A 9-1 New Orleans run provided the first lead change of the contest. It was tied 31-31 at the end of one quarter.
The Kings led by five at 42-37, and the Pelicans would later go up by seven at 62-55. New Orleans led 62-59 at halftime.
New Orleans led for almost the entirety of the third quarter and went back up by seven at 81-74. The Kings rallied back and there were four lead changes in the final minutes, though New Orleans led 99-96 at the end of the quarter.
There were 10 lead changes in the final quarter alone. Alex Len had back-to-back baskets to give Sacramento a 107-102 lead. But the Pelicans would score the next seven points. Harrison Barnes put the Kings ahead 123-121 with under two minutes to play. But New Orleans scored the next six points, all from the free throw line. The Pelicans would go 10-for-10 from the free throw line down the stretch and the Kings couldn’t catch up again.
This game was played with Bank Shot Basketball.
