2nd Half Woes Continue As Kings Fall To Pelicans
Playing in Sacramento is always special for Ryan Anderson.
It took him a half to warm up Tuesday night, but he didn't disappoint when he did.
Anderson scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, and Anthony Davis had 28 points and nine rebounds to help the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Sacramento Kings 106-100.
"I had some jitters coming back here," said Anderson, who made 9 of 17 shots and had four rebounds in a reserve role. "Most of all, this was a great win. This is a fun
atmosphere and I have so many memories watching close games like this one. This was a great win for us."
Anderson grew up a Kings fan and won a state high school championship at Sleep Train Arena.
Anderson missed on 6 of 7 3s in the first half, but made three 3-pointers in the third quarter when New Orleans outscored the Kings 31-15 and never trailed again to snap a three-game losing streak against Sacramento. He had five 3s overall.
DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 17 rebounds and Rudy Gay scored 15 for Sacramento, which dropped to 3-2 at home. Jason Thompson had 15 points and nine rebounds,Omri Casspi had 13 and Darren Collison had 13 points and 11 assists.
Ex-King Tyreke Evans had all 18 of his points in the second half. Eric Gordon added 17 points for the Pelicans, who squandered a 15-point fourth quarter lead in losing at Portland on Monday.
"To go through what we went through last night and to bounce back like this against a good team and a toughplace to play was really a good win for us," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "Our third quarter defense, I thought that won the game for us. Our shots fell and Ryan got it going."
Evans, who had 11 fourth-quarter points, made an off-balance shot over Cousins from close range and Davis converted one of two free throws, giving New Orleans a 103-97 lead.
"He came in with energy, got aggressive, and made plays for his teammates. We all know that Tyreke is a talent," Cousins said. "He's a tough matchup and he took an advantage of it."
Behind the scoring of Evans and Gordon, the Pelicans built a 98-87 lead. But Sacramento responded with seven unanswered points and Cousins delivered a three-point play, cutting the lead to three points with 1:09 left.
New Orleans committed six turnovers, one less than their previous season low of seven in a loss to Cleveland. The franchise record is three.
The Kings continue to struggle from 3-point range, making 4 of 11. The Kings missed all 12 3s in their Saturday victory over San Antonio and entered the game
with the NBA's second worst percentage (.298) behind Milwaukee.
Pelicans: Starting center Omar Asik missed his second straight game due to lower back pain. Alexis Ajincastarted in his place. . Evans has made 14 of 30 (47 percent) from 3-point range. In four of the past five seasons he shot 29 percent or less, including 22 percent last year, his first with New Orleans after four years in Sacramento.
Kings: Prior to the game, Gay signed a $40 million, three-year contract extension. The formal announcement will take place Wednesday. The final year of his contact is a player option. . Thompson had 10 points in the opening quarter, two more than his previous season high.
Pelicans: Plays Denver on Friday night.
Kings: Faces Chicago on Thursday.
More Kings Stories
