Pelicans Beat the Kings 132-120 for Their First Win of the Season: Jeremiah Fears Puts Up 22 Points and 13 Assists, and Sacramento Falls to 0-5
Two winless teams met in New Orleans on Thursday, and one of them left that way. Fears flirted with a triple-double, Zion Williamson scored 22 on 10-of-12 shooting, and the Kings wasted a 34-point night from their rookie.
The New Orleans Pelicans won their first game of the season on Thursday night, beating the Sacramento Kings 132-120 at the Smoothie King Center a night after losing their fourth straight, 104-91 to Denver. Jeremiah Fears and Zion Williamson each scored 22 points for New Orleans, Reuters reported, and the Pelicans used second- and third-quarter runs — 39 points in each period — to take the game over after trailing early.
Fears finished with a career-best 13 assists and eight rebounds, two boards short of a triple-double, along with four blocks and two steals — his fourth career double-double. Williamson added five steals, and the Pelicans got 19 points from Trey Murphy III, 16 from Herbert Jones, 12 from Karlo Matkovic and 10 apiece from Saddiq Bey and Ben Mathurin. New Orleans did it short-handed, with Jordan Poole out with an ankle injury and Dejounte Murray away for the birth of his child, according to the Associated Press.
Sacramento's rookie supplied the night's biggest individual line in a losing cause. Darius Acuff Jr. scored a season-best 34 points, beating the 33 he scored against Portland on October 23, and De'Andre Hunter and Precious Achiuwa added 24 apiece with Zach LaVine at 21. But the Kings committed 25 turnovers — seven of them by Domantas Sabonis, who led all rebounders with 15 — and a 21-4 New Orleans run in the third quarter took the game away for good.
New Orleans improved to 1-4. Sacramento, at 0-5, is the first team in the league to lose five games this season and one of two still winless. The Kings' next chance comes Saturday at Memphis — against the 5-0 Grizzlies.
