Instant Replay: Late first-half burst propels Kings past Pelicans

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SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Kings survived drama, a low blow and a charging New Orleans Pelicans team Sunday night at Golden 1 Center. It wasn’t pretty, but the Kings improved to 4-2 on the homestand and have now won three straight after taking down New Orleans by a final of 105-99.

DeMarcus Cousins drew his 17th technical foul of the season on an inadvertent shot to the face of Donatas Motiejunas in the first quarter. He headed to the locker room to clear his thoughts and came back out to put up big numbers for Sacramento. The three-time All-Star finished the night with 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the win.

Darren Collison continued his hot play, scoring 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting. He also chipped in eight assists and four rebounds. With Ty Lawson unavailable, Collison logged 40 minutes for the second straight game for Dave Joerger.

Ben McLemore called for the ball coming out of the intermission and hit back-to-back 3-balls to start the half. The red hot shooting McLemore knocked down 3-for-5 from deep to finish the night with 11 points and two steals.

Matt Barnes provided a spark off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds. Arron Afflalo went for 10 points and Anthony Tolliver added nine points and six rebounds.

Anthony Davis went off for 21 points in the first half, but the Kings made adjustments. The star big still managed to post 32 points and 10 rebounds, but Sacramento made him work for his buckets.

Jrue Holiday went at Collison, his former teammate at UCLA. The veteran point guard stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, and five steals.

Dante Cunningham added 14 points and six rebounds, while Solomon Hill dropped in 3-for-4 from deep on his way to nine points.

Rookie Buddy Hield hit the showers early after drawing a Flagrant 2 for grabbing Cousins in the privates during the second quarter.

STANDOUT PERFORMER

Cousins overcame the early technical foul call to have a huge night. The Kings’ superstar big needed a quick trip to the locker room to take a breath, but he returned to the court and played out of his mind in a huge win for Sacramento.

TURNING POINT

Sacramento didn’t make things easy on themselves down the stretch with turnovers and an eight second call. But in the end, Cousins hit his free throws and led the Kings to the much needed victory.

INJURY UPDATE

Ty Lawson missed his second straight game with a strained left adductor muscle. Garrett Temple is out until after the All-Star break with a torn left hamstring. Omri Casspi missed his 15th straight contest with a right plantaris tendon strain. Rudy Gay is out for the season with a torn left Achilles.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Kings hit the road for a back-to-back set against the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and Wednesday. Following the matchup with the Warriors, the Kings are off for a week for All-Star festivities in New Orleans.

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