New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings Prediction, 3/5/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026

Location: Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA

TV: NBC Sports California

Golden 1 Center is the site where the Sacramento Kings (14-49) will play the New Orleans Pelicans (19-44) on Thursday.

The Pelicans faced the Lakers and went home with a loss by a final score of 110-101 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Pelicans ended up finishing with 24 while the Lakers recorded 17 fouls. They also converted 11 of their 37 attempts from 3-point land. Los Angeles finished the game at 80.8% at the charity stripe by making 21 of their 26 shots. On top of that, Los Angeles snagged 48 rebounds (11 offensive, 37 defensive) and added 3 blocks. Los Angeles recorded 29 dimes and had 7 steals in the game. When discussing defense, New Orleans allowed their opponent to shoot 47.0% from the field on 39 of 83 shooting. They also recorded 29 assists in the game while forcing 22 turnovers and earning 12 steals. With respect to rebounding, they compiled a total of 41 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the free throw line, the Pelicans knocked down 17 of 19 attempts for a percentage of 89.5%. New Orleans walked away from the game with a 42.2% field goal percentage (38 out of 90) and converted 8 out of their 29 shots from downtown.

Zion Williamson is one player who was a contributor in the matchup. He finished with 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting. He was on the court for 33 minutes and also pulled down 4 rebounds. Williamson finished 55.6% from the field but had no assists when the game ended.

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New Orleans enters this game with a mark of 19-44 for the year. They are averaging 114.9 pts per game (19th in the league) while shooting 46.3% from the floor. The Pelicans are shooting 34.4% on shots from distance (705 of 2,052) and 78.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, New Orleans is pulling down 43.8 rebounds per game and has accounted for 1,588 assists on the year, which is 17th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 14.4 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 20.0 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Pelicans are forcing 14.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.1 personal fouls. They give up 35.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 27th in the league in PPG allowed (120.2). The Pelicans defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 47.6% (2,746 of 5,763) and they relinquish 45.8 rebounds per contest as a team. They are 29th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,762 relinquished this year.

When they last played, the Kings went home defeated by a final of 114-103 against the Suns. The Kings were able to collect 27 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 40 in the game. They also turned it over 14 times, while earning 11 steals for the matchup. The Suns earned 13 fouls for this game which took the Kings to the charity stripe for a total of 18 attempts. They were able to convert 14 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 77.8%. With regard to shooting from distance, Sacramento converted 7 out of 27 tries (25.9%). In all, the Kings ended up going 41 for 90 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.6%. The Kings permitted the Suns to make 42 of their 92 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.7% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 38.8% from distance by connecting on 19 of 49 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 17 at the charity stripe (64.7%). When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Sacramento permitted Phoenix to pull down 53 in all (18 on the offensive glass).

Maxime Raynaud was important for the Kings for this game. Raynaud had 22 points in his 36 minutes on the court and tallied 4 assists for the contest. He made 10 out of 12 in the matchup for a rate of 83.3%, and tallied 10 rebounds.

Sacramento has a win-loss mark of 14-49 so far this year. As an offensive team, the Kings are shooting 46.2% from the field, which has them ranked 21st in the league. Sacramento has accounted for 6,941 pts for the year (110.2 per contest) and they pull in 41.6 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 25.2 times per game (22nd in the NBA) and they turn it over 14.5 times per contest. The Kings are responsible for committing 19.8 personal fouls every game and they go 77.8% from the free throw line.

The Kings on the defensive end are ranked 28th in the NBA in PPG allowed with 121.1. They are forcing their opponents into 14.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 49.6% from the field (30th in the league). The Sacramento defense surrenders 36.8% on three-point shots (834 of 2,266) and their opponents are making 78.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 27.8 assists and 44.7 total boards per game, which is 26th and 17th in the league.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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