Pelicans show toughness to advance to NBA first round with win over Kings

There was no Zion Williamson.

After losing Williamson in the tough loss to the Lakers when it appeared the New Orleans Pelicans would rally for a huge comeback win, the Pelicans were underdogs at home to a team they had beaten all five times this season.

There is something to this matchup thing. While the Lakers have the number of the Pelicans, the Pelicans have the number of the Kings.

New Orleans showed toughness and will to finally get a crucial win at home, holding off Sacramento at Smoothie King Center, 03-96.

There is simply no doubt.

The Pelicans are better than the Kings, clearly better.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak at home by defeating the Kings for the sixth time in as many attempts.

New Orleans finally made themselves at home and it was a pleasant site. The Pelicans needed Brandon Ingram to return to his top form.

He did.

Ingram scored 24 points with six rebounds and six assists, picking up his game and picking up his team.

With Williamson out, the thought process was that Ingram needed to be a star and that CJ McCollum would need to do the same.

The latter did not occur.

McCollum scored just seven points on just eight field goal attempts.

It took others to step up.

Jonas Valanciunas always becomes more of a focal point offensively when Williamson is out.

Valanciunas becomes the inside, low-post option without Zion and he came through, scoring 19 points with 12 rebounds and three assists.

Trey Murphy III was solid with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Then, there was the play of a terrific trio off the bench.

Larry Nance Jr. had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Naji Marshall had 11 points and six rebounds. Jose Alvarado had 10 points and five rebounds.

It was all about energy and bench play,

The New Orleans reserves dominated the Sacramento reserves, outscoring the Kings 34-12 off the bench.

The Pelicans started slowly, committing six turnovers and trailed 24-22 after one quarter.

Then, the reserves provided the surge necessary as New Orleans outscored Sacramento 32-21 in the second quarter to give the Pelicans a 54-45 halftime lead.

New Orleans maintained the edge in the third quarter and opened up a 20-point lead in the final quarter.

Though the Pelicans did not close well, they had enough of a working margin to seal the deal.

New Orleans won the battle of the boards 45-40 and even without Williamson, outscored the Kings 58-44 in the paint. The Pelicans shot 51.8 percent from the field.

The Pelicans open their playoff series against the top-seeded Thunder at Oklahoma City Sunday night. The Thunder won two of three games against the Pelicans this season. Oklahoma City knocked out the Pelicans in the play-in game last season. That is not forgotten, as Ingram pointed out in the post-game interview on TNT.

The Pelicans, despite now having won 50 games, will certainly be forgotten by pundits, all of whom have and will pick the Thunder to win the series. The lack of respect and the lack of expectations could work in favor of New Orleans. This underdog role is fun, a good thing, for a team trying to earn respect by showing it belongs.