National Basketball Association
Sacramento 122, New Orleans 117
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 23, 2018
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Officials: #60 James Williams, #17 Jonathan Sterling, #52 Scott Twardoski
Attendance: 16643

Buddy Hield scored 28 points as the Sacramento Kings overcame an early 19-point deficit to defeat the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 122-117 on Sunday.

Willie Cauley-Stein had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Kings, who scored 36 points in the fourth quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 24 points and seven assists and De'Aaron Fox had 19 points and 11 assists. Nemanja Bjelica had seven points and 10 rebounds.

Anthony Davis scored 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Pelicans, who have lost four in a row, and Jrue Holiday had 27 points.

Julius Randle had 18 points and nine rebounds and Tim Frazier had 12 points for New Orleans. E'Twaun Moore had 10 points and Jahlil Okafor added six points and 10 rebounds.

The Pelicans led by as many as 19 points in the first quarter. The lead dropped to four during the third quarter before they took a 10-point lead into the fourth.

The Kings worked their way back and took a 107-105 lead with 5:01 to play in the fourth on Hield's driving layup.

Darius Miller tied the game at 108 with a 3-pointer for the Pelicans, who then regained the lead on Randle's layup with 2:55 remaining.

Cauley-Stein completed a three-point play to put Sacramento ahead by one point with 2:40 to go. Cauley-Stein's layup had the lead at three and two free throws by Bjelica made the lead five with 1:10 to play.

Randle made a jump shot with 5.6 seconds left that would have pulled New Orleans within three, but it was disallowed after a video review and he was called for an offensive foul.

The Pelicans led 32-13 with 2:08 to play in the first quarter. The Kings, who were mired in a 0-for-8 funk from the field, reeled off a 12-4 run to end the quarter with New Orleans leading 36-25.

With New Orleans leading 42-27 with 8:41 left in the second quarter, Fox made a big block as Frazier was making a layup. Hield nabbed the rebound and made a layup at the other end to bring the Kings to within 13 points.

The Kings used a 7-0 run to trim the Pelicans' lead to seven points on a Hield layup with 1:28 left in the half. The Pelicans took a 69-58 lead into halftime.

The Pelicans finished the third quarter with six straight points to take a 96-86 lead in the fourth.

Fox cut the lead to three with a layup and Hield's 3-pointer tied the game at 105 with 5:29 to play.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
New Orleans   Sacramento
Jrue Holiday 27 Scoring Buddy Hield 28
Tim Frazier 7 Assists De'Aaron Fox 11
Anthony Davis 17 Rebounds Willie Cauley-Stein 17
Anthony Davis 11 Free Throws Made Bogdan Bogdanovic 8
Anthony Davis 2 Steals Willie Cauley-Stein 3
Anthony Davis 4 Blocks Nemanja Bjelica 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
New Orleans 117 46.8 6-26 23-28 26 58 9 6 13
Sacramento 122 42.0 14-31 24-33 26 50 4 9 9
Upcoming Games
  • Sacramento will play their next game on the road against L.A. Clippers. The Kings have a W/L % of .529 after a win and .562 after a loss.
  • New Orleans will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Pelicans have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .421 after a loss.