On April 12, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Kings played against the Pelicans at home. In this game, the Pelicans entered the state early, and a wave of 18-0 offensive to establish a 23-point lead, but then the Kings launched a counterattack, once narrowing the gap to 2 points, but unfortunately failed to go further, and the Pelicans once again opened the difference in the final quarter, winning 135-123 and continuing to occupy the sixth position in the West.
In the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans came up to play against the visitors, Varan and Zion took turns scoring points on the inside, and Murphy scored three points to make a 9-0 start. The Kings played more than 2 minutes and relied on Murray to break the drought from mid-range, Barnes hit a three-point shot, McCollum immediately replied, and Zion scored a single inside line, and the score came to 16-5. The Kings then scored six consecutive points to stop the bleeding, but then went straight to the fire, the Pelicans blossomed inside and out, Jones and Alvarado hit three-pointers, Murphy hit three free throws and hit two three-pointers in a row, Zion counterattacked and dunked, blasting out an 18-0 offensive wave to take a 34-11 lead. Fox began to explode, scoring eight points in a row, leading the team to a 12-0 run to narrow the gap, and the Kings fell behind 23-34 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Fox scored three points again, Zion stabilized his single, McCollum scored three points, Marshall counterattacked, and the Pelicans stabilized the situation 7-0. Kings Ellis and Lyles hit back-to-back three-pointers, Fox countered and scored, and McCollum hit two consecutive three-pointers to help the Pelicans hold on 47-34. Sabonis Jr. scored back-to-back points inside, Murphy hit a three-pointer, Mitchell responded with a three-pointer, and Zion returned to the locker room with a left hand injury. Mitchell scored another three-pointer, the Kings managed to close the score, Murray scored three points to only four points, Murphy and Daniels responded with a three-pointer, and Sa Jr. scored a basket, and the Kings trailed the Pelicans 58-64 at halftime.
Yibian fought again, the King continued to fight back, McCollum hit a three-point shot, the Pelicans were just about to open the difference, Murray stopped the bleeding with three points, Zion played 2+1, and the score came to 74-65. Murray scored three points again, Xiao Sa scored 2+1 under the basket, and Barnes broke through to score, leaving only 3 points left. The two teams were locked in a tug-of-war, the Kings were never able to go further, Alvarado hit a three-pointer, Barnes responded, Fox complained about a technical foul, Alvarado hit a three-pointer, and the Pelicans opened up the difference. Lyles stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer, Daniels immediately responded with a breakaway, and Fox scored on a breakaway to give the Pelicans a 98-89 lead after the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the Pelicans blossomed inside and outside to stretch the margin to double digits, Vezinkov hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, McCollum responded with a counterattack, and Alvarado counterattacked to take a 108-94 lead. After that, the Pelicans opened up the deficit in waves, and the Kings recovered briefly but it was too late, and finally the Pelicans defeated the Kings 135-123.
In this game, the Pelicans were hot from the outside, hitting 22 three-pointers, including McCollum with 31 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Zion with 31 points, helping the team to a key victory. On the Kings' side, Fox scored 33 points and 8 assists, and after the loss, they were tied with the Lakers and Warriors at 45-35, but they still ranked eighth in the same region, and they were sure to stay in the play-in zone. The game left the Kings desperate and out of action to hit the top six, while the Warriors saw an opportunity, and there was only one suspense left in the Western Conference playoffs, that is, who could grab the last chance to advance between the Suns and Pelicans.