No Drama: Kings Control Second Half To Defeat Pelicans

The Kings pulled themselves back to .500 behind another big night from Harrison Barnes & a much-needed bounce-back effort from De’Aaron Fox

It’s always a nice night at Golden 1 Center when the Sacramento Kings can win a game with little-to-no drama.

Wednesday night would be one of those nights as the Kings used a massive 14-0 run in fourth quarter to defeat a shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans team by a final of 112-99.

With the win, Sacramento (4-4) evened its record on the season and defeated the Pelicans at Golden 1 Center for the first time since December 23, 2018.

The ball movement leads to a De’Aaron three 👌 pic.twitter.com/1D6wgyAL3w

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 4, 2021

Although both teams were both on the second night of a back-to-back, Sacramento looked like more like they were on the third night of a back-to-back-to-back in the early going.

New Orleans wasted no time building a 13-5 lead as the Kings struggled to find their offense in the opening minutes of play. De’Aaron Fox (seven points in the first) and the rest of the offense would wake up and finish the period on a 22-13 run to take a 27-26 lead into the second.

Sacramento did a lot of sharing the basketball in the first half, dishing out 16 assists over the first two quarters behind solid playmaking from their guards Davion Mitchell (career-high six assists in the first half), De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton (three assists each).

Although the Kings entered the halftime break with a 56-52 lead, New Orleans would not go away after converting nine three-pointers in the first half.

Teamwork makes the dream work 👑 🤝 pic.twitter.com/69kxbAOxhG

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) November 4, 2021

After scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in the first half, Richaun Holmes would not be around for most of the second half. Holmes committed a personal foul on Pelicans guard Devonte’ Graham with 9:49 remaining in the third, his fourth of the contest.

Holmes, who has been in foul trouble often this season, voiced his frustrations to the officiating staff and was quickly assessed a technical. While walking away from the officials and towards the Kings bench, Holmes tossed his headband into the stands and was assessed his second technical of the game, warranting an automatic ejection.

It was the first ejection of Holmes’ Sacramento tenure and only the second time that he has been tossed in his career.

Following Holmes’ ejection, New Orleans rallied to take a 74-68 lead with 5:50 remaining–a lead that Harrison Barnes would erase on his own after scoring 11 points in the third quarter to lead the Kings to a 92-87 lead heading into the fourth.

TYRESE pic.twitter.com/eNqcPUmp4m

— Tony Xypteras (@TonyXypteras) November 4, 2021

As we have seen in each game to begin the regular season thus far, Sacramento has trouble with closing out games. Finally, the Kings would be able to hold a lead with no late-game drama.

Leading 92-91 with 9:32 remaining, Sacramento went on an electrifying 14-0 run to take a commanding 106-91 lead with less than five minutes remaining. The run was capped off by a De’Aaron Fox triple–the team’s 10th of the night, warranting free tacos for all in attendance–and then a fast-break that ended with an Alex Len slam to blow the lid off of Golden 1 Center.

The Kings outscored New Orleans 20-12 in the fourth quarter to pick up their fourth win of the season and bring themselves back to the .500 mark.

The Alex Len slam caps off a 14-0 @SacramentoKings run on NBA League Pass!

📱💻: https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG pic.twitter.com/lujkwwMfEd

— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2021

Rounding Out The Box Score

For the sixth time in eight games this season, Harrison Barnes topped the 20-point mark.

Sacramento’s early-season MVP led all scorers with 23 points on five-of-eight shooting from the field, four-of-six from three-point range and nine-of-10 from the free-throw line. Barnes also pulled down eight rebounds and dished three assists.

The 10-year veteran has without a doubt been the team’s most important player to begin the season and most impactful player in each game. Wednesday night was no different for ‘The Black Falcon’.

De’Aaron Fox looked much more comfortable against New Orleans, scoring 19 points (eight-of-14 from the field, two-of-three from three-point range) to go along with five assists over 38 minutes of action.

“If I’m not playing well, I know I’m not playing well,” Fox said postgame of his early season struggles. “I don’t really give a f*** if someone else tells me I’m not playing well.”

Tyrese Haliburton was a Swiss army knife during the win, finishing with a season-high 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. The second-year guard continues to create both offensively and defensively at an efficient pace this season.

Thought Tyrese Haliburton pitched just about a perfect game for the Kings against the Pelicans. 20 points, 7 assists, 0 TOs, 4 steals, 2 blocks. Showcased the entire skillset. Just incredible basketball instinct. Processes the game at an exceptionally high level. He's a winner. pic.twitter.com/iNT1wtg8hb

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) November 4, 2021

Davion Mitchell flirted with his first-career double-double, scoring 12 points to go along with a career-high eight assists.

Alex Len added 12 points off of the bench, while Buddy Hield scored 11 and pulled down five rebounds.

Injury Updates

Both Richaun Holmes (knee) and Buddy Hield (ankle) were active on Wednesday after head coach Luke Walton mentioned that both were a tad banged up following Tuesday’s loss to Utah.

Kings forward Moe Harkless appeared to tweak his ankle in the early minutes of the first quarter on Wednesday, as the 28-year-old was seen walking back into the locker room shortly after exiting the contest. Harkless returned in the second quarter and was an active participant for the remainder of the game.

Coming Up

The four-game home-stand will continue on Friday night when the Kings face last year’s Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets.

Last season, Charlotte swept the two-game season series against Sacramento–with both games coming to an end in heartbreaking fashion.

In last season’s first meeting between the two teams on February 28th, the Kings held a 123-115 lead with less than a minute remaining before the Hornets pulled off a stunning–and devastating–12-3 run over the final 50 seconds to steal a 127-126 win.

Just a few weeks following the February 28th loss, Sacramento faltered late once again on March 15th as they lost by a final of 122-116 in a game that they held the lead for over 45 minutes.

The Kings are currently on a five-game losing streak to Charlotte dating back to January 17, 2019.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Hornets action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK with pregame coverage beginning at 3:00pm PST on The Jason Ross Show prior to a 7:00pm PST tip-off from Golden 1 Center.

Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule

• November 5th vs Charlotte Hornets
• November 7th vs Indiana Pacers
• November 8th vs Phoenix Suns
• November 10th @ San Antonio Spurs
• November 12th @ Oklahoma City Thunder