Pelicans vs. Kings
The Pelicans of New Orleans are really puzzling in their competition this season. Their champion, Xiu Zion, has obviously recovered his health, helped the team hold up for a while, and fully proved his value as a champion. But who would have thought that the other starters in their team would suffer from injuries one after another, so that the team could not maintain a long-term stable output. Therefore, so far, they have only a 47-32 record, ranking sixth in the West, and there is still a possibility of falling to the play-in zone.
In this game, Ingram continued to be sidelined, and Zion took the team to Sacramento to challenge the Kings who were located there. To be sure, the Kings did not have the same hot form as they did at the beginning of the season at the end of the regular season, falling to the play-in zone and ranking eighth in the West. And this time the home court accepted the challenge of the Pelicans, and the Kings did not stabilize the situation, allowing Zion and McCollum to lead the team to a total score of 135-123 and won the final victory.
The specific results
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans, who were playing away, maintained their hot state and took the initiative to take the lead in the score. Zion shot 3-of-6 from the field and delivered 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals, Murphy III also contributed 12 points, and starting center Wallan also had 5 points and 4 rebounds, helping the team to a 34-23 score and an 11-point lead. Entering the second quarter matchup, the Kings can also launch a counterattack. Barnes, who started the game, stepped up and delivered 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal to help the team go 35-30 and close the gap to six points.
In the third quarter of the competition, the champion Lang Zion showed his might, playing the full 12 minutes of the third quarter, shooting 6 of 8, 5 of 5 free throws, sending 17 points, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, leading the team to a score of 34-31. In the final quarter of the decisive game, the Pelicans did not give the Kings a chance to reverse, with the help of McCollum's 12 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, they played a score of 37-34 and won the final victory with a total score of 135-123.
epilogue
Although the Pelicans' Ingram is still injured, they clearly played the Big Three in this game. During this period, Zion delivered 31 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, McCollum also had 31 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and Murphy III, who played 45 minutes and delivered 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. The 89 points of the three players greatly relieved the pressure on the team's scoring end. At the same time, Valanciunas also had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, as well as Alvarado, who handed over 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
With the victory, the Pelicans snapped a three-game winning streak and completed a 5-0 season sweep against the Kings. On the other hand, on the side of the Kings who lost at home, their star Fox did his best. He played 41 minutes, shot 11-of-18, delivered a game-high 33 points, and 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Sabonis' 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, Murray's 20 points and 5 rebounds, and Barnes' 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists were all powerless.