The New Orleans Pelicans jumped out to a big lead early against the Sacramento Kings and they never looked back. Without Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans, this seemed to be the kind of game the Pelicans would lose. Demarcus Cousins has been crushing opponents throughout the month of January, and it was unclear how the Pelicans would mitigate his impact.
However, with strong performances from nearly the entire team on both sides of the ball, the Pelicans handled the visiting Kings fairly easily. Ryan Anderson tied his career-high scoring mark, and Bryce Dejean-Jones surprised many with his strong play in his first career start.