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Charlotte Hornets at Washington Wizards
2026-27 · Regular season · Emirates NBA Cup
New Orleans Pelicans beat Sacramento Kings 132-120 for their first win as Jeremiah Fears has 22 points and 13 assists
Jeremiah Fears had a career-high 13 assists, Zion Williamson scored 22 on 10-of-12 shooting, and the Pelicans pulled away with a 21-4 third-quarter run. Darius Acuff Jr. scored 34 for the 0-5 Kings.
In this article
Jeremiah Fears had 22 points, a career-high 13 assists and 8 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Sacramento Kings 132-120 at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday, October 29, for their first win of the season. New Orleans is 1-4 and won for the first time under coach Jamahl Mosley. Sacramento is 0-5.
Zion Williamson scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, every basket in the paint, and had 5 steals. Trey Murphy III added 19 points, and the Pelicans’ bench outscored Sacramento’s 41-8.
How it turned
Sacramento led 30-24 after the first quarter and 32-24 early in the second before New Orleans went on a 19-4 run. The lead changed hands 12 times in the first half. Zach LaVine’s three put the Kings up 54-50 with 2:37 left before halftime, but Fears’ three-point play and two free throws by Murphy gave New Orleans a 55-54 lead with 1:45 left, and the Pelicans never trailed again. Karlo Matkovic’s three made it 63-58, and De’Andre Hunter’s 27-footer at the buzzer cut it to 63-61 at the half.
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 21 of his points in the first half for Sacramento.
Video: NBA / X.
New Orleans broke it open early in the third quarter. Starting from a 67-65 lead, the Pelicans scored 21 of the next 25 points in less than four minutes. Herbert Jones had a three-point play, Williamson scored six points, Fears hit a three and Murphy added a step-back three and a driving layup. Williamson’s layup made it 88-69 with 6:35 left in the quarter, the largest lead of the night. New Orleans led 102-88 after three.
Alex Karaban hit two threes early in the fourth and LaVine’s three got the Kings within 113-106 with 7:11 left. The Pelicans answered with 10 straight points, including a Matkovic dunk and a driving layup by Fears, to lead 123-106. Williamson stole the ball from LaVine and dunked for a 129-117 lead with 1:27 left.
Video: New Orleans Pelicans / X.
The numbers
New Orleans scored 80 points in the paint, had 18 steals and scored 40 points off Sacramento’s 25 turnovers. Jones scored 16 on 7-of-12 shooting, Matkovic had 12 points and 3 steals, and Saddiq Bey and Bennedict Mathurin each scored 10 off the bench. The Pelicans played without Jordan Poole (ankle), Dejounte Murray (personal) and Yves Missi (knee).
Sacramento’s side
Acuff, a rookie, set career highs with 34 points and 14 assists on 13-of-26 shooting, though he also had 6 turnovers. Hunter scored 24 and made 4 of 8 threes, and Precious Achiuwa had 24 points on 12-of-17 shooting with 9 rebounds and 4 steals. LaVine scored 21 on 7-of-17 shooting. Domantas Sabonis had 9 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists but committed 7 turnovers. The Kings were without Keegan Murray (ankle), Ben Simmons (Achilles), Maxime Raynaud (knee) and Dylan Cardwell (calf).
What’s next
The Kings visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, October 31, at 8 p.m. ET (2 a.m. Sunday Cairo time). The Pelicans host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET (1 a.m. Sunday Cairo time).
Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center. All-time head-to-head.
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