Zach LaVine had 22 points in the second game for his new team, Domantas Sabonis led the way with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings brought a two-game losing streak to an end with a 123-118 come-from-behind victory over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 19 points while Malik Monk and Keon Ellis had 13 apiece for the Kings, who won for just the third time in their last nine games.
Zion Williamson was the game’s top scorer with a season-best 40 points and CJ McCollum went for 31 for the Pelicans, who lost for the eighth consecutive time.
Riding a 65-point first half, New Orleans led by as many as 20 points before the Kings turned the tables with a 45-22 dominance in the third period.
A Williamson layup had the Pelicans within 115-114 with 2:41 to play, but Sabonis made one of the game’s biggest plays, tipping in a DeMar DeRozan miss to ignite a 6-0 burst that tilted the game in Sacramento’s favor for good.
LaVine hit just one of his seven 3-point attempts, but made good on six of his seven shots from in front of the arc and all seven of his free throws. He also contributed five assists to his first win as a King.
Monk supplemented his 13 points with a team-high seven assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Murray had eight rebounds and three blocks to go with his 19 points.
Ellis also collected three steals for Sacramento, while DeRozan was a sixth King with double-figure points with 11.
Williamson’s 40 points came on 16-for-21 shooting. He also had four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The 40 points were six more than he’d scored in a game previously this season and were three shy of his career high of 43, set against Minnesota in December of 2022.
McCollum’s 31 points were mostly the product of 6-for-11 shooting on 3-pointers. The Pelicans lost despite outscoring the hosts 42-33 from beyond the arc.
Trey Murphy III added 20 points and Brandon Boston 11 for New Orleans, which fell to 0-2 against Sacramento this season.
Yves Missi was the Pelicans’ leading rebounder with 13 to go with four blocks, while Jose Alvarado handed out a game-high nine assists to complement five points and three steals.
