What we learned as Kings’ loss to Pels locks them into play-in game

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What we learned as Kings’ loss to Pels locks them into play-in game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – Returning to Golden 1 Center didn’t offer the comforting feelings that the Kings had hoped it would provide after coming back from their miserable road trip.

Instead, it turned into another nightmare night for a team that not long ago harbored hopes of being able to move out of the play-in portion of the NBA postseason.

De’Aaron Fox had 33 points and eight assists while Harrison Barnes had his best game in nearly two weeks, but the Kings dug an early hole and couldn’t work out of it, losing to the New Orleans Pelicans 135-123 on Thursday in a game that had playoff ramifications for both teams.

Sacramento’s fourth loss in five games dropped the Kings to 45-35 and into a three-way tie with the Golden State Warriors and the idle Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. The loss also officially locked the into a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

New Orleans completed a five-game season sweep of Sacramento, moving the No. 6 seed Pelicans to 48-32.

Barnes had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists but was a minus-17. Domantas Sabonis added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Keegan Murray scored 19 and Davion Mitchell had 13.

The Kings still can move up to the No. 7 slot in the West. They trail the Phoenix Suns by two games, who come to town for a game against Sacramento on Friday. That game will determine any tiebreakers between the two teams, should it come down to that.

Sacramento got off to a horrible start in its first game back at Golden 1 Center following a frustrating and costly 1-3 road trip.

The Kings fell behind 9-0, 16-5 and 31-11 in the first quarter despite a solid effort from Fox. Sacramento’s point guard scored 12 points in the opening period, eight coming over the final 52 seconds when Fox aggressively attacked the rim and got to the free throw line.

After cutting the gap to nine heading into the fourth, the Kings pulled within 121-121 with two minutes left but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Here are the takeaways from Thursday’s…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-kings-loss-pels-locks-044000274.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-04-12 04:40:00

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