NEW ORLEANS — Brandon Ingram scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans clinched a spot in the NBA playoffs with a 105-98 win over the Sacramento Kings in Friday’s play-in tournament elimination game. Obtained. night.
The Pelicans won without leading scorer Zion Williamson. Williamson strained his left hamstring on Tuesday night while reaching 40 points in a play-in loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Undaunted, New Orleans used a balanced approach to improve to 8-5 this season without Williamson in the lineup.
Six players scored 10 or more points, including reserves Larry Nance Jr. (13 points), Naji Marshall (11 points) and Jose Alvarado (10 points).
For New Orleans, Trey Murphy III, who started in Williamson’s absence, added 16 points.
For Sacramento, De’Aaron Fox had 35 points and Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 14 rebounds.
The game was a test of the Pelicans’ ability to handle the pressure of a do-or-die game, having squandered their previous two chances to clinch a playoff berth at home.
New Orleans lost to the Lakers in their final regular-season game on Sunday, missing out on a chance to clinch the No. 6 seed, and lost again to the Lakers on Tuesday.
They faced the Kings with a chance to become the first 49-win team (Phoenix in 1972) to miss the NBA playoffs in over 50 years.
Instead, New Orleans improved to 6-0 against Sacramento this season and is the first team to go 6-0 in a season (without a playoff series) against an opponent since Denver-Minnesota in 1994-95. They were the first team to achieve this goal.
The Pelicans also extended their streak of not missing the playoffs as a No. 7 seed since the NBA adopted the play-in tournament in 2020.
With Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers, the Pelicans will open the playoffs Sunday as the No. 8 seed against top-seeded Oklahoma City.
The Pelicans had a bad start, committing six turnovers in the first quarter that led to 11 points for the Kings. Fox’s layup off a Herb Jones turnover gave Sacramento a 24-17 lead after scoring 18 points in the first half.
McCollum’s reverse layup and Murphy’s three points quickly helped the Pelicans close the gap, and New Orleans built a 13-point lead in the second quarter.
Marshall shocked the Pelicans with a three and steal from Keegan Murray, which he converted into a breakaway dunk.
Murray appeared to fall and injure himself when he lost the ball, and immediately headed to the locker room.
This development further thins the depth of a Kings team already without Malik Monk (right knee) and Kevin Huerter (left shoulder).
A short hook shot by Valanciunas and a layup by Ingram gave the Pelicans a 53-40 lead late in the second half, but Fox’s three points cut the Kings to 54-45 by halftime.
