Pelicans 109, Kings 97
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The New Orleans Pelicans looked nothing like a team with only 11 victories before Thursday night. The Sacramento Kings looked nothing like a team with the playoffs on its mind.
Eric Gordon scored 24 points, and forward Anthony Davis returned to the lineup to score 24 points and pull 10 rebounds, and the Pelicans coasted for much of a 109-97 victory over the Kings at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday.
Davis, back after missing two games with a bruised back, scored 11 points in the opening period, and New Orleans (12-26) blitzed Sacramento (15-23) with a 22-6 first-quarter run after the Kings scored the game's opening four points.
The Pelicans hardly were threatened after that. Sacramento cut its deficit to 68-60 early in the third quarter, but New Orleans responded with 15 consecutive points en route to a 27-7 run that made it 95-67 early in the fourth quarter.
The Kings, ninth in the NBA's Western Conference entering the night, fell 2 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Jazz, pending Utah's result at Portland.
Center DeMarcus Cousins finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings and led a ferocious fourth-quarter charge that gave New Orleans a scare. Cousins scored 10 consecutive points during an 18-2 Sacramento run that cut the Pelicans' lead to 97-85.
Gordon's 3-pointer from the left-side wing deflated the comeback, and Anderson's 3-pointer one possession later ended things. The Pelicans canned 16-for-33 from 3-point range against the team that allows the most 3-point shots (29.2) and 3-point field goals (10.3) in the NBA.
The Kings were only 6-for-23 from 3-point range.
Guard Norris Cole and forward Ryan Anderson added 18 points off the bench for New Orleans, and the Pelicans' subs outscored Sacramento's 47-34.
Point guard Rajon Rondo scored 17 points and added 10 assists to his NBA-leading total for Sacramento. Rondo is averaging 11.6 assists per contest.
Forward Rudy Gay added 12 points, and guard Darren Collison scored 10 for Sacramento.
NOTES: Pelicans G Tyreke Evans played only seven minutes against his former team after injuring his knee. ... Sacramento, ninth in the Western Conference, travels to eighth-place Utah on Thursday in the second of three meetings between teams vying for the final playoff spot. The Kings, who beat the Jazz 114-106 at home on Dec. 8, will assure a tiebreaker victory with a win. ... Pelicans C Anthony Davis missed five of the Pelicans' first 37 games, or 13.5 percent. He missed 47 games in his first three seasons, or 19.1 percent. ... F Omri Casspi's return to the floor after missing four games with a sore upper back did not propel F Quincy Acy back to Sacramento's bench. Acy made his fifth straight start, his longest streak of starts since December 2014 when he was with the New York Knicks. ... New Orleans will play nine of its next 10 games at home, where the Pelicans have seven victories. They will play three games against Eastern Conference opponents, against whom they are 2-10.