Pelicans collapse in fourth quarter in loss to Kings

Typically, the New Orleans Pelicans fail in the third quarter.

Monday night, their failure was delayed until the fourth quarter when they gave up a 10-point lead in a 118-109 loss to the Sacramento Kings at the Smoothie King Center.

It was a bad loss as New Orleans was outscored 31-16 in the final frame.

How bad were the Pelicans in the final frame?

Try going 5-of-18 from the field (27.7%) with five turnovers.

The Pelicans had a 97-87 lead after a 3-pointer by Nickeil Alexander-Walker with 11:36 to play in the game.

It was all downhill from that point forward.

Kira Lewis got minutes in the first quarter, a rarity for him.

With Steven Adams out with a calf injury, Willy Hernangomez also saw minutes in the first quarter for the first time this season. Hernangomez was outstanding, hitting all three field goal attempts, scoring seven points and pulling down a pair of rebounds in just five minutes.

New Orleans took a 33-30 lead after one quarter, shooting 52.4 percent from the field while committing just three turnovers.

The Pelicans maintained a 62-60 lead by halftime.

Brandon Ingram had 12 points in the half but the bench came up big as Hernangomez finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists while Josh Hart had nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Pelicans had just four turnovers in the half.

Marvin Bagley picked up his second technical foul with 10:18 to play in the third quarter and he was ejected from the game after complaining about a questionable foul called on a shot attempt by Zion Williamson.

If that was expected to give the Pelicans an advantage inside, the Kings did not get the memo.

The bench play was excellent in the third quarter once again as Hernangomez, Lewis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Hart all played well. New Orleans built a 10-point lead and settled for a 94-87 lead going to the final quarter.

Then came the disastrous fourth quarter as the Pelicans collapsed, scoring just 15 points and losing the period by 16 points and the game by nine points.

Hernangomez finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 20 points but he was a poor 6-of-20 from the field. Williamson scored just 17 points after scoring 31 in the first meeting at Sacramento. Ingram and Williamson combined to make just 12-of-33 field goal attempts.

New Orleans shot it poorly, at just 40 percent from the field.

New Orleans got outworked on the boards, losing that battle 52-46 as they missed Adams.

Additionally, the Pelicans were just 9-of-30 from 3-point range (30%).

Sacramento shared the ball well, assisting on 31 of 42 made field goals.

De’Aaron Fox, who scored a career high 43 points in the loss to the Pelicans at Sacramento, shined again with 38 points. He took over the game in the fourth quarter and single-handedly outscored New Orleans by a 17-15 margin.

Sacramento lost despite committing 20 turnovers to just 10 for New Orleans.

Hart was best for New Orleans with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four assists off the bench, making 7-of-14 field goals. It was the 25th career double-double for Hart.

The homestand concludes Wednesday night against Phoenix, which just got star Devin Booker back.

At 7-12, the Pelicans are in a world of hurt in the Western Conference, 14th out of 15 teams.

New Orleans cannot win at home. New Orleans cannot defend. New Orleans cannot make 3-pointers with any consistency.

Until the Pelicans can change any of those miseries, things will continue to be miserable for the home team no matter where they play.