12/05/23 12:20:00
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12/05 00:19 CST Brandon Ingram leads the Pelicans past the Kings 127-117 to
advance to In-Season Tournament semis
Brandon Ingram leads the Pelicans past the Kings 127-117 to advance to
In-Season Tournament semis
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) --- Brandon Ingram scored 30 points and the New Orleans
Pelicans beat the Sacramento Kings 127-117 on Monday night in the quarterfinals
of the NBA's In-Season Tournament.
Ingram helped New Orleans erase an early deficit and the Pelicans never trailed
in the second half as they advanced to play the winner of Tuesday night's game
between Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals Thursday in Las
Vegas.
"It's a growth moment for us to have an opportunity to be one of the first,"
New Orleans coach Willie Green said. "This is the first time we've had the
In-Season Tournament. You put a game in front of us that's meaningful, I don't
care who it is, where it is, we want to win. That's the type of heart that we
have in that locker room."
Herb Jones added 23 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 18 to give the Pelicans
their third win over Sacramento in the past two weeks.
De'Aaron Fox scored 30 points and Domantas Sabonis added 26 points, 13 rebounds
and 10 assists for the Kings. Sacramento lost for the first time in the
tournament after sweeping all four games in group play.
There was good energy from the sellout crowd, with many fans wearing blue
T-shirts handed out to give the In-Season Tournament a playoff feel.
The intensity carried over to the court, with Sacramento's Trey Lyles getting
into a dustup with Valanciunas in the first half that earned him a technical
foul.
"High-intensity game. Fun to be a part of," Green said. "I think the guys just
relish these type of moments. It's experience for us, more than anything. We
can lean on these experiences when we start to get down the stretch, when we
face adversity, things like that. We love these moments."
The Kings made 12 of their first 14 shots to take a 32-17 lead before going
cold during a 28-5 run spanning the first two quarters for the Pelicans.
Sacramento missed 16 of 18 shots from the field during the spurt and had 10
turnovers in the first half.
"We have to be able to answer their run a lot better," Fox said. "When you turn
the ball over, just losing possessions, it starts to add up. Once they got the
lead, we were never able to get it back."
New Orleans built its cushion to 15 in the third quarter behind big shots from
Ingram before Sacramento started to chip away.
"(Ingram) was incredible," Green said. "He put us on his shoulders and he
carried us. He had big shot after big shot. Whenever we needed a big bucket, we
put it in his hands. He's a big-time player."
The Kings got within six midway through the fourth before the Pelicans scored
nine straight points to put the game away.
Valanciunas made a hook shot and Trey Murphy hit a 3-pointer before Ingram and
Jones each made a pair of free throws for New Orleans.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: Play the winner of Tuesday's Suns-Lakers game in the In-Season
Tournament semifinals Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Kings: Visit the loser of Tuesday's Suns-Lakers game on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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