The Sacramento Kings fell to the New Orleans Pelicans 123:135 at home in another regular season game of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bulgarian international Aleksandar Vezenkov was given nearly 11 minutes of playing time on the floor by head coach Mike Brown, recording 5 points and 2 rebounds, making one of his four shots from three.
Above all for the Kings was De'Aron Fox with his 33 points. He added 5 rebounds and 8 assists to his stats. Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray scored 22 and 19 points, respectively, and Domantas Sabonis had a double-double - 18 points and 10 rebounds. Davion Mitchell finished with 13.
For the Pelicans, Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum each scored 31 points for the victory. Trey Murphy III also had a strong game, scoring 27, including 6/12 from behind the arc. Jose Alvarado and Dyson Daniels added 14 and 10, respectively, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with a double-double – 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The fourth loss in their last five games ended Sacramento's chances of avoiding the play-in tournament, which features teams that finished the regular season between 7th and 10th. Right now, with two games left in the regular season, in the Western Conference those are the Kings, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and the tenth-place LA Lakers. The Pelicans are in sixth place with a 48-32 record, one game ahead of sixth-place Phoenix. In their next matches, New Orleans visits Golden State, while Sacramento will host Phoenix.
The rest of the results:
Detroit Pistons - Chicago Bulls 105:127
Boston Celtics - New York Knicks 109:118
Utah Jazz - Houston Rockets 124:121
Portland Trail Blazers - Golden State Warriors 92:100. /BGNES
