Kings decimated by ‘grown-ass man' Zion Williamson, Pelicans

Mike Brown did not mince words after the Kings' ugly 129-93 road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday at Smoothie King Center.

Sacramento trailed by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter and surrendered a combined 57 points to Pelicans forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, who dominated the Kings from start to finish.

Kings' second-year forward Keegan Murray matched up well defensively with Ingram in the first half but suffered a lower back injury in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Ingram then went off in the second half and finished the game with 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 on 3-pointers.

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In speaking to reporters after the game, Brown did not make any excuses for the Kings' blowout loss despite losing a key piece in Murray.

"Next man has to step up, we have to do it collectively," Brown said. "It didn't matter who was in the game, from the start to the end they kicked our behind. You've got to give them credit. From Willie Green - kicked my behind - on down. We did not show any resistance at all no matter who we threw out there. Didn't matter if we had injuries or not, we weren't getting it done from the beginning."

Williamson finished with 26 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block and did most of his damage in the first half before Ingram took over in the second half.

"Zion [Williamson] was a grown-ass man tonight and we had no answers for him at all," Brown added. "Obviously, Brandon Ingram got hot in the second half ... but we couldn't do anything with Zion tonight. So give them a lot of credit, they did what they were supposed to do."

The Kings will look to wash their hands of this ugly loss as soon as possible with another matchup against the Pelicans right around the corner.

Sacramento will square off with the Pelicans again on Wednesday in New Orleans. Stream the action, starting with "Kings Pregame Live" at 4:30 p.m. PST, on NBC Sports California.