Ryan Anderson scored 27 points as the New Orleans Hornets beat the Sacramento Kings 114-105 on Monday.
New Orleans out-rebounded the Kings 49-36. They shot 12 3-pointers in the game, whereas Sacramento had only three. The Hornets' first half 64-39 lead proved instrumental to their victory.
"We didn't like the sloppy play in the second half but I'm not going to dwell on that," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said.
"The good thing is our guys felt badly about it and that is something that shows character, but at the same time you don't want to see it, giving up a 37-point quarter (the most the Hornets have allowed in the third quarter) and a 29-point quarter after the way the defense played in the first half."
For the Hornets, Greivis Vasquez added 19 points, Eric Gordon had 16, and Al-Farouz Aminu finished with 14 as New Orleans won their third in four games.
For the Kings, DeMarcus Cousins was the top scorer with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas added 20 points, Tyreke Evans had 16 and Travis Outlaw finished with 10.
Anderson, who had 17 points in the second quarter and 19 in the second half, made 5 out of 8 attempts from the three point arc to give his team a 64-39 lead.
"I shot some tonight that were a little difficult," Anderson, who made seven 3-pointers in the game, said. "I got open looks and the guys were looking for me."
The Hornets outscored the Kings 30-18 in the first quarter. They again outscored them in the second with 34 points against Sacramento's 21 to enter the second half with a big 25-point lead.
The Kings scored 37 points in the third quarter to launch a comeback and limited the Hornets to 23 to cut the Hornets' lead to 87-76.
The Kings again outscored the Hornets 29-27 in the last quarter, but lost the game by nine points.
"I was proud of the way the guys came back in the third quarter," Hornets coach Keith Smart said. "It would have been easy for them to pack it in, but they came out and made a game of it."
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