Cousins, Kings down Pelicans

New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals as the Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 99-89 on Tuesday night.

Omri Casspi netted 22 points for the Kings, who have won three in a row and four of their last five.

Sacramento coach Michael Malone was ejected in the second quarter for arguing with official Eric Lewis.

"We had a little adversity at halftime with the whole coach situation," Cousins said. "So I just tried to come out and be aggressive, hit them in the mouth early and get our team rolling."

Tyreke Evans posted 22 points, seven boards and five helpers, while Anthony Davis added 14 points and nine rebounds for New Orleans, which has dropped three of its last five games.

"We just didn't play any kind of team basketball tonight," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "They just outplayed us."

Casspi scored all nine points during a 9-2 Sacramento swing in the third to five the Kings a 66-59 advantage past the midway point of the frame.

Sacramento took a 75-70 edge into the fourth before Nik Stauskas nailed a jumper and Ray McCallum made two free throws in the opening minute of the final frame to make it 79-70.

New Orleans never cut the deficit below six the rest of the way.

Casspi netted four quick points as the Kings raced out to a 12-2 start.

Sacramento led 27-16 after a quarter of play and Ben McLemore's 3-pointer in the early seconds of the second made it 30-16.

Davis sunk two free throws to finish off a 7-0 spurt to pull the Pelicans within 40-38 late in the second and the game was tied 49-49 heading into the break.

Game Notes

Sacramento scored 17 points off 11 Pelicans turnovers ... The Kings shot 48.1 percent (37-of-77) from the field, while New Orleans finished 41.8 percent (33-of-79) from the floor.