Kings fail to make playoffs after Play-In Tournament loss to Pelicans
(FOX40.COM) – After beating their in-state rivals, the Golden State Warriors, on Tuesday, the Sacramento Kings were unable to get over the Play-In Tournament hump and into the playoffs after losing to the Pelicans on Friday night, 105-98.
If the Kings had won, it would have been the second straight season the team made it to the playoffs; that hasn’t happened since they accomplished the feat in 2005.
“Give our guys a lot of credit, they faced some stuff this season that they didn’t face the season before,” said head coach Mike Brown after Friday night’s loss. “They tried staying with it, tried battling through it, and we just came up short when we were hoping not to.”
The Pelicans will now advance to the first round of the NBA Playoffs and square up against the Western Conference’s number-one seed: Oklahoma City.
The Thunder, who finished the season with a 57-25 record, is led by all-NBA point guard and 2024 MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and up-and-coming center Chet Holmgren, who was the first overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a litte more than 30 points per game this season (30.1), while also averaging 6.2 assists.
Friday night’s Play-In Tournament finale between the Kings and the Pelicans saw both teams trade leads in the first half. By the end of the first quarter, Sacramento was up by two (after leading by seven at one point); however that was quickly flipped into a seven-point deficit after the team struggled to score for almost four full minutes in the second quarter.
At halftime, the Kings trailed by nine points, 54-45.
The second half saw the Kings make multiple comeback attempts, but they trailed by double digits for the majority of the half.
De’Aaron Fox led the way for Sacramento with 35 points, while Domantas Sabonis put up yet another double-double: 23 points, 14 rebounds (and 7 assists).
For New Orleans, a team without superstar forward Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram led the way with 24 points. Center Jonas Valanciunas provided a major interior presence for the Pelicans, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double.
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