By beating the Pelicans, Sacramento wins its first Pacific Division title in 20 years!

Already qualified in the playoffs, the Kings continue their excellent season by beating the Pelicans last night in New Orleans (121-103). De’Aaron Fox (23 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds) and Keegan Murray (21 7/10 3-pointers) were key players in the success that propelled Sacramento to its first Pacific Division title in 20 years, since 2003!

However, New Orleans had taken its game by the right end, with an initial 7-0 and a bleeding Brandon Ingram at the start, with 14 of his team’s 22 points in the period. But the collective of Sacramento will gradually regain the upper hand, like the triple-double of Domantas Sabonis (16 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) which perfectly ran the shop.

Relegated to -15 in the third quarter, the Pelicans tried to revive the machine but Sacramento was a tone, even two, above. In this case, it was rookie Keegan Murray who repelled the onslaught of the Pels with three consecutive (or almost) 3-point kicks and 15 points in the period.

The Pelicans are now almost “doomed” to go through the “play in” box. They’ll need one last win, or a loss to Dallas, to make sure they get there (with three games still to go).

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

– The Kings claim the Pacific Division title as a team. With the Huerter – Sabonis duo in the first quarter, then Fox – Monk in the second, Keegan Murray in the third, and just about everyone in the final quarter, the Kings once again showed their collective strength against NOLA. When it’s not one, it’s the other. And the Californian collective still turned at full speed to repel the Pelicans. Already qualified in the playoffs, the Kings won a success synonymous with their Pacific Division title, a first since 2003 and a great reward for the franchise that has long been the laughingstock of the League!

– The Pelicans will probably have to go through the “play in”. New Orleans has yet to officially say goodbye to hopes of breaking into the Top 6 by the end of the season as they have three games left, but it will no doubt be difficult to overtake the Warriors, the Clippers or Lakers by the end of the season.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Domantas Sabonis. Author of his 13th triple double of the season with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, he did not really force his talent at the finish (7/12) but he mainly thought about spinning the ball and creating play .

✅ Keegan Murray. The Kings rookie is now well established in his role as a sniper with one of the best teams in the West. Last night, he scored all his points from a distance, at an excellent 7/10 behind the arc.

✅⛔️ Brandon Ingram. He had started very strong with 14 points in the first quarter, but the winger gradually died out, like his team. The leader of the Pelicans finishes with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists… but also 7 stray bullets, which does not look like him!

⛔️ CJ McCollum. Not spared by small physical glitches this season, he seems to be paying the price in the final sprint. Last night, the veteran fullback tried a lot (19 shots) for little success (12 points)…

THE FOLLOWING

New Orleans (52-27): Memphis reception on Wednesday night through Thursday.

Sacramento (54-25): traveling to Dallas tonight.

New Orleans / 103 Shots Bounces Players Minimum Shots 3 points LF O D T pd party Int bp CT +/- Points Rating B.Ingram 37 7/15 1/2 7/8 2 5 7 6 2 2 7 1 -18 22 22 H.Jones 31 5/10 1/1 0/0 1 3 4 3 1 1 2 0 -2 11 12 J.Valanciunas 27 5/10 0/0 3/4 3 5 8 4 3 0 1 0 -1 13 18 C. McCollum 35 6/19 0/4 0/0 0 5 5 3 2 0 1 1 -22 12 7 T.Murphy III 36 6/12 3/8 2/3 0 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 -9 17 15 L. Nance Jr. 18 2/3 0/0 3/4 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 2 -20 7 10 G.Temple 3 0/1 0/1 0/0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 +3 0 0 N.Marshall 14 1/5 0/1 2/3 0 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 -11 4 1 J Hayes 3 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 +3 0 0 K.Lewis Jr. 3 0/0 0/0 2/2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +3 2 2 J.Richardson 20 1/4 1/2 0/0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 -20 3 0 D. Daniels 13 4/4 1/1 3/3 1 3 4 1 0 1 0 0 +4 12 18 37/84 7/20 22/27 9 28 37 20 14 6 13 4 103 105

Sacramento / 121 Shots Bounces Players Minimum Shots 3 points LF O D T pd party Int bp CT +/- Points Rating D. Sabonis 32 7/12 1/2 1/2 3 9 12 11 3 0 2 0 +6 16 31 H.Barnes 31 5/9 1/3 5/5 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 +17 16 16 K.Murray 35 7/12 7/10 0/0 3 3 6 1 2 0 1 1 +8 21 23 D.Fox 30 10/23 2/6 1/2 2 3 5 9 0 1 3 0 +18 23 21 K.Huerter 22 5/10 1/5 0/0 1 2 3 4 3 2 1 1 -2 11 15 T.Lyles 13 0/4 0/4 0/0 0 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 +14 0 -1 C.Metu 3 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -3 0 -1 R.Holmes 3 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -3 0 1 K. Edwards 11 0/2 0/2 0/0 0 5 5 1 2 0 1 0 +3 0 3 A.Len 13 1/1 0/0 2/2 1 3 4 1 4 0 1 2 +15 4 10 D.Mitchell 15 3/5 2/3 0/0 1 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 +3 8 8 T.Davis 3 1/3 1/2 0/0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 -3 3 2 Mr. Monk 23 6/9 2/5 3/4 0 2 2 3 2 2 0 0 +23 17 20 P.Dozier 3 1/1 0/0 0/0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -3 2 3 K.Ellis 3 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 -3 0 1 Total 46/91 17/42 12/15 11 32 43 35 22 8 11 4 121 152

How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D= defensive rebound; T = Total Bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.