On April 12, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. In an important card battle in the West, the Sacramento Kings meet the New Orleans Pelicans at home. The Pelicans took the lead in the first quarter and have since withstood multiple Kings comebacks. In the end, the Pelicans won 135-123, and the Pelicans, who had won three in a row, sat in the sixth place in the West, and the Kings were tied with the Lakers and Warriors.
Pelicans (48-32): Zion 31 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, McCollum 31 points and 7 assists, Murphy 27 points, Valanciunas 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Kings (45-35): Sabonis 18 points and 10 rebounds, Fox 33 points and eight assists, Murray 19 points, Barnes 22 points, Mitchell 13 points.
In the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans blossomed more points and played a 16-5 start. The Kings scored six straight points to tie it to 11-16, after which the Pelicans went on an 18-0 run with a three-pointer to take a 34-11 lead to 23 points. The Kings scored 12 straight points in the final 2:20 to end the first quarter with the Kings trailing the Pelicans by 11 points, 23-34.
In the second quarter, the Kings blew the clarion call with a three-pointer, scoring eight straight points to put them at 34-41 at 9:11 and only seven points behind. McCollum hit two three-pointers to stabilize the situation, but after that, the Kings scored another back-to-back game, and Mitchell's two three-pointers put them up at 46-52. After that, the two teams went back and forth, and at halftime, the Pelicans were 64-58 and only had six points left.
In the third quarter, the Kings continued to chase points, and after a mid-8 run of 8-2, the Kings trailed by only two points at 5:43 to 76-78. The Pelicans scored six straight points to hold the game, and they have since maintained their advantage to around 10 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans led the Kings by nine points at 98-89.
In the final quarter, the Pelicans made a three-point effort and launched a wave of 15-2 offensive climax, and the Pelicans led 123-100 to 23 points at 6:18. The Kings didn't give up and responded with a 15-2 spurt that put the Kings up at 115-125 at 3:36. After that, the Kings were unable to close the gap further, and the Pelicans eventually won 135-123.