Kings takeaways: What we learned in crushing 117-115 loss to Pelicans

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SACRAMENTO -- Desperate to string together a few wins, the Sacramento Kings looked solid through three quarters Saturday night at Golden 1 Center ... and then the New Orleans Pelicans hit them with a 10-0 run to open the fourth and held on for the win.

The Kings struggled to hit their shots, turned the ball over and looked lost. And then they came charging back. 

With 4.4 seconds remaining and the Kings down four, Nemanja Bjelica buried a 3-pointer and was fouled on the shot. He walked to the line and tied the game, but the Pelicans had one more chance.

JJ Redick took the inbounds pass, raised to the rim and flipped up a high-arching shot that found paydirt with 1.1 seconds remaining. Without a timeout, the Kings had no chance to draw up a play and they fell by a final of 117-115.

Here are three takeaways as the Kings dropped another one at home to fall to 13-23 on the season.  

Bully Barnes

The Kings couldn’t buy a bucket early and then coach Luke Walton called for Harrison Barnes to get down in the blocks and go to work.

Sacramento’s starting small forward went over and through the Pelicans' forwards and when he didn’t get the shot to fall, he was usually heading to the free-throw line for a couple of attempts.

Barnes scored 30 points on 9-for-12 from the field and 10-of-12 from the stripe. He added four rebounds, three assists in 38 minutes of action.

Crashing the glass

Every once in awhile, Buddy Hield decides to make rebounding a priority in a game. He posted a career-high 12 rebounds earlier in the season against the Knicks and against the Pelicans, he was a huge factor on the boards.

Hield notched his second double-double of the season, posting 24 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. 

On the downside, Hield struggled with his shot, turned the ball over seven times and picked up an atrocious technical foul in the final eight minutes. More than one of his gaffs were complete mental lapses. 

The yips

De’Aaron Fox had the Pelicans on roller skates all night long with his crossover dribble and speed changes.

He finished the night with 17 points, on 5-for-14 shooting and added five assists and three rebounds, but he left a lot on the table. 

Fox knocked down just 5-of-11 free throws for the game. With his elite speed and ability to get to the rim, the 22-year-old point guard needs to shoot better than the 71.6 percent from the line he’s averaging this season.

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