Sacramento Kings lost all 5 matches against New Orleans Pelicans in Regular Season. The two teams once again face off in a Play-in series with a prize of a ticket to the NBA Playoffs for the winner.

It seemed that the Sacramento Kings would be able to defeat the Pelicans thanks to the mental advantage after the big victory over the Golden State Warriors in midweek, plus the fact that New Orleans’ number 1 star, Zion Williamson, did not play.

But reality shows that the New Orleans Pelicans are still the villains of the Sacramento Kings.

After a tense first half, the New Orleans Pelicans broke away in the second half to create a double-digit gap. When the Sacramento Kings intended to come back, Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans responded with a 16-3 run, taking a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Although the Kings rallied a bit in the last 3 minutes, New Orleans’ previous long scoring streak was like a “knock-out” to put the game out of Sacramento’s control. From there, the Pelicans won the match. with a score of 105-98, winning the last ticket to the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

This was New Orleans’ first home victory in more than 3 weeks, a period when they had 7 consecutive defeats at Smoothie Kings Center.

De’Aaron Fox scored the most points on the Sacramento Kings side with 35 PTS, 5 assists, 3 steals and 7 rebounds. Center Domantas Sabonis scored 23 points, 14 rebounds and added 7 assists.

Outside of this duo (scoring a combined 21-43 FG), the Kings don’t have any other reliable scoring options. Three players in the starting lineup including Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis only achieved 10-31 FG.

In the reserve squad, Sacramento only has 12 points with the majority coming from Davion Mitchell (4-9 FG, 2-6 3PT). In addition, Kings’ long throw rate is also quite bad with only 26.8% 3PT.

In contrast, the New Orleans Pelicans delivered an extremely impressive team performance. They had 34 points from the reserve group with very even contributions from the trio of Larry Nance Jr, Naji Marshall and Jose Alvarado.

Shining in place of the injured Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram led the main team with 24 points (10-20 FG), 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Trey Murphy III scored 16 points with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Center Jonas Valanciunas contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.

Highlights of the Play-in match between Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans

Closing the Play-in Tournament series, the New Orleans Pelicans will be the 8th seed in the West. They will face the top team Oklahoma City Thunder in round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, a series of matches starting next Monday morning (April 22).