Kings 102, Pelicans 97
DeMarcus Cousins had 35 points and 14 rebounds as visiting Sacramento knocked off New Orleans.
Ray McCallum had career highs of 22 points and 10 assists and Rudy Gay also scored 22 points for the Kings, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ben McLemore added 14 points for Sacramento, which had a commanding 47-30 rebounding edge.
Anthony Morrow scored 23 points and Anthony Davis added 22 for the Pelicans, who have lost two straight following a five-game winning streak. Tyreke Evans added 15 points and Austin Rivers contributed nine assists.
The Pelicans were within one after Morrow’s basket with 7:18 remaining before Gay drained a 3-pointer and McCallum scored the next eight Sacramento points to make it 95-87 with 3:48 left. A basket by Morrow pulled New Orleans within 97-93 with 1:21 to go but Cousins scored 16 seconds later and the Kings held off the charge.
New Orleans shot 55.3 percent from the field in the first half and held a 55-53 lead at the break. Sacramento used a 15-2 burst to open up a 14-point lead in the third quarter before the Pelicans closed with a 12-2 run to trail 80-76 entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: McCallum played 44 minutes and committed just one turnover as starting PG Isaiah Thomas (thigh) missed his fourth consecutive game. … Pelicans G Eric Gordon (knee) missed his sixth straight contest. … The victory was just Sacramento’s third in its last 11 road games.