Keon Ellis came off the bench to score 27 points, leading the Sacramento Kings to a 119-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday at Smoothie King Center.

Ellis went 10 of 14 from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range for the Kings (28-26), who have won three in a row.

Zion Williamson had 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds and seven assists for the Pelicans (12-42), who have lost 10 in a row.

The Kings will be back in action Thursday when they play the Pelicans in the second game of a back-to-back set.

Stat leaders

DeMar DeRozan had 24 points and six assists for Sacramento, going 9 of 17 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Zach LaVine had 23 points and seven assists.

Malik Monk added 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. Domantas Sabonis recorded his league-leading 48th double-double of the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Trey Murphy III scored 19 points for New Orleans. Jose Alvarado had 18. CJ McCollum was held to 14 points after going 7 of 17 from the field and 0 of 5 from 3-point range.

Halftime report

The Kings were clinging to a 65-63 lead at the half after going up by as many as 16 in the first quarter.

Ellis established a new career high for points in a half with 22 after going 8 of 11 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Williamson had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting for New Orleans.

The Pelicans outscored the Kings 38-24 on points in the paint, 14-5 in second-chance points and 12-5 in points off turnovers. The Kings committed 10 turnovers in the first half — eight of them in the first quarter — continuing a troubling trend for Sacramento.

Second half

The Pelicans briefly claimed the lead on a couple of occasions early in the second half, but the Kings went up by 11 late in the third quarter and carried a 92-86 advantage into the fourth.

New Orleans cut the deficit to two when a Sacramento turnover led to a corner 3-point from Antonio Reeves with 5:36 to go, but a deep 3 by LaVine, a couple of inside baskets by Sabonis and a turnaround jumper by DeRozan helped the Kings hold on for the win.

The Kings finished with 11 turnovers after committing eight in the first quarter.

Up next

The Kings will face the Pelicans again Thursday at Smoothie King Center in the final game before the All-Star break.

The Kings are 4-6 in back-to-back situations this season. The Pelicans are 1-10.

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