Kings hope to avoid unfortunate franchise history against Pelicans
The Sacramento Kings are looking to avoid setting an ignominious franchise record when they face the host New Orleans Pelicans on Monday evening.
With a 132-126 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, the Kings lost their 12th straight game. That equals the mark held by the 1997-98 team for the most consecutive losses since the franchise moved from Kansas City to Sacramento ahead of the 1985-86 season.
Nique Clifford had a career-high 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting followed by Russell Westbrook with 21 points and nine assists, as Sacramento was without four of its leading scorers in Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray. Clifford and Westbrook each made five 3-pointers.
"I got some good looks (Saturday), and my teammates were finding me, putting me in good positions to score the ball, and the shots were falling for me," Clifford said.
The rookie first-round pick out of Colorado State is emblematic of coach Doug Christie's pivot towards a youth movement as the Kings, who have made the playoffs just once in the last 19 seasons, attempt to alter their fate.
"The name of the game is to win the game, so that part hurts, but to watch these guys begin to find their way, find their rhythm and compete against some really good teams and put themselves consistently in position to win the ballgame (is encouraging)," Christie said. "Now, there's a learning curve of how to do it, and it's difficult. It's difficult to win in our league."
Second-year guard Devin Carter scored 18 points, and two-way player Daeqwon Plowden had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Rookie center Maxime Raynaud had 14 points and seven rebounds. Undrafted rookie Dylan Cardwell had a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Monday night's clash is the first of three games with the Pelicans this season and the only one in New Orleans.
Saddiq Bey had 30 points, including two free throws with 10.8 seconds left, and Zion Williamson added 29 points, highlighted by a critical three-point play with 35.5 seconds to play, as the Pelicans defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-115 to end a three-game losing streak and conclude a 1-3 road trip.
Bey, who is averaging 16.7 points per game, has three 30-plus-point games so far in 2026 after he had none in the first three months of the season.
"In general, we followed and executed the gameplan, the task, especially defensively. ... Our guys battled, got stops when we needed to," New Orleans coach James Borrego said. "Saddiq made huge plays. ... We understand we're going to have to win clutch games to win games. We're learning how to close."
Trey Murphy III had 26 points and six rebounds, while Derik Queen had 17 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Timberwolves. A rookie center who had just 10 3-pointers on 47 attempts coming into the contest, Queen went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
The Pelicans shot 44.1% (15 for 34) from 3-point land in the game.