Kings overcome slow start to dominate Pelicans, 121-103

With a chance to clinch a play-in spot Tuesday night, the New Orleans Pelicans started fast.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last.

The Sacramento Kings played faster and better the rest of the way in a 121-103 victory at Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans started fast, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and led 14-4.

That was the high point for New Orleans.

The rest of the game was a high point for Sacramento. It was no contest as the third-place Kings were kings on this night.

From that point forward, Sacramento dominated, outscoring New Orleans 21-8 to take a 25-22 lead after one quarter.

The Kings had six offensive rebounds in the quarter and the Pelicans committed six turnovers, resulting in 10 points.

Brandon Ingram carried his team with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists in the quarter but had little help as the Pelicans were just 7 of 18 from the field.

The Kings continued their momentum early in the second quarter, expanding the lead to 42-32.

Sacramento continued to dominate and carried a 65-54 lead into halftime.

The Kings shot 52 percent from the field in the half and got whatever they wanted in a 40-point second quarter.

After scoring 14 points in the first quarter, Ingram did not score in the second quarter as the Kings frequently got help defense on him. Jonas Valanciunas had 10 points and seven rebounds in the half and Dyson Daniels did a good job off the bench with seven points. Malik Monk had 14 points off the bench for the Kings.

The Kings scored on 18 of their 24 possessions in the second quarter.

The dominance continued in the third quarter as the Kings stretched the lead to 96-80.

Keegan hit five 3-pointers in the quarter to provide the punch for Sacramento.

New Orleans never threatened in the final quarter.

The Pelicans got little help off the bench outside of Daniels, who finished with 12 points on 4 of 4 shooting from the field, including 1 of 1 from 3-point range and 3 of 3 from the free throw line.

After his 14-point first quarter, Ingram scored just eight points the rest of the way as the Kings defended him superbly, making it virtually impossible for Ingram to even get a shot. No one else stepped up enough to fill the void for the Pelicans.

Trey Murphy III had 17 points while Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and eight rebounds. CJ McCollum struggled all night, scoring just 12 points on 6 of 19 shooting and he missed all four of his 3-point attempts.

Sacramento’s ball movement is a thing of beauty and the Kings have plenty of shooters surrounding an outstanding center in Donatae Sabonis. When Sabonis plays at the high post, he is deadly with his passing ability, his ability to hit the mid-range jumper and his ability to beat bigger, slower post players off the bounce. Sabonis finished with a triple-double, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Sacramento had 35 assists on 46 made shots.

The Kings shot 50 percent from the field and crushed New Orleans from 3-point range, outscoring the Pelicans 51-21. Sacramento won the battle of the boards 43-37. The Kings scored 23 points off 14 New Orleans turnovers, including seven by Ingram.

There is no time to sulk over the unimpressive performance with Memphis, second in the Western Conference, in town to play the Pelicans in the second of a back-to-back Wednesday night.

After watching the Kings, the Grizzlies, a much better defensive team than Sacramento, will undoubtedly blitz Ingram on touches and pick-and-rolls. While Ingram has become a good facilitator, others must space correctly and must deliver some legitimate help on the offensive end if the Pelicans want to stand a chance at winning.