Pelicans at Kings
The New Orleans Pelicans possess the worst record in the NBA and they look to record their first victory of the season when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. The Pelicans fell to the Golden State Warriors on Monday for their seventh straight defeat in what is their second straight poor start after opening last season 1-11.
New Orleans witnessed Golden State star Stephen Curry set an NBA record with 13 3-point baskets in its latest defeat. Star center Anthony Davis continued his strong start with 33 points and 13 rebounds in the 116-106 setback and he is averaging 30.4 points and 11.9 rebounds. Sacramento lost the first four contests of a five-game road excursion before prevailing 96-91 against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. "It was much needed, a confidence boost, a momentum boost," standout center DeMarcus Cousins said afterward. "It's a good feeling. It would have been a pretty long flight if we went home off this road trip with no wins, so it makes it a bit better. But we're still finding ourselves."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN New Orleans, CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (0-7): New Orleans was unable to overcome its poor start a season ago when it finished 30-52 and the Pelicans could be well out of the race by the time the starting backcourt of Tyreke Evans (knee) and Jrue Holiday (personal reasons) return to the club this season. New Orleans is one of just two winless teams — the Philadelphia 76ers (0-6) are the other — and is hampered by a suspect defense that is allowing 108.7 points per game. Davis has four 30-point outings and five double-doubles and is averaging more than double the output of second-leading scorer Tim Frazier, who is averaging 13 points and 7.4 assists after producing 13 points and 10 assists against Golden State for his third double-double of the season.
ABOUT THE KINGS (3-5): Small forward Rudy Gay scored 23 points against the Raptors after missing one game because of a rib injury and is averaging 22.6 points per game. Cousins contributed 22 points and 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the campaign but he is averaging just 9.1 boards to go with a 25.5 scoring average. "I'm just trying to make sure my effort is there the whole night," Cousins said. "I know there's been a lot of games — well, a couple of games — where I haven’t gotten 10 rebounds, and that's not me. Just trying to make sure I leave it all out there on the floor."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pelicans went 4-0 against the Kings last season and have the won past six meetings.
2. New Orleans released swingman Lance Stephenson (groin) on Monday and signed PG Archie Goodwin.
3. Sacramento released PG Jordan Farmer on Monday with starting PG Darren Collison making his season debut Tuesday after serving an eight-game suspension over a domestic violence incident.