Pelicans fall to Kings in overtime
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — DeMarcus Cousins looked like he was going to haunt his former team again. But the other main piece in the trade that brought Cousins to New Orleans ended up making the biggest play on Friday night.
Buddy Hield scored eight points down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left that forced overtime, and the Sacramento Kings beat the Pelicans 116-109.
Zach Randolph made two of his career-high five 3-pointers to start overtime and finished with a season-high 35 points. He also had 13 rebounds.
“When you’re hot, you’re hot,” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said. “(Randolph) hit corner 3s, off balance, getting fouled. They were going in. He just had one of those games.”
Hield finished with 18 points off the bench, Fox added 14 points and Frank Mason III scored 12 for the Kings, who won for just the fourth time in 15 road games this season.
Cousins led New Orleans with 38 points and 11 rebounds, but in the fourth quarter and overtime he had just five points, making 2 of 12 shots and missing all five 3-point attempts. Cousins had 41 points and 23 rebounds in a victory over the Kings in Sacramento in October.
“I don’t think we had a sense of urgency the entire night,” Cousins said. “We just kind of coasted through this game and we gave this team life. We had plenty of opportunities to put the game away and we just wouldn’t put our foot on the pedal full-throttle.”
Anthony Davis, returning from a three-game absence with an adductor strain, had 18 points. Ian Clark had a season-high 15 points in his first start, and Jrue Holiday scored 14.
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