NBA Game Summary - Sacramento at New Orleans

New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMarcus Cousins outdueled fellow All- Star Anthony Davis, but Davis' New Orleans Pelicans got the better of Cousins' Kings on Friday, beating Sacramento 102-88.

Davis posted 24 points, nine rebounds and six blocks for the Pelicans, who picked up a crucial game in the win column to stay alive in the Western Conference playoff race. Tyreke Evans had 25 points and 10 assists and Quincy Pondexter scored 16 points to help end a four-game losing skid.

"Staying with our game plan, being aggressive, we didn't let (Cousins) turn it into a one-on-one game," Evans said of the win.

The win put New Orleans a half-game in front of Phoenix for ninth place in the West and three games behind eighth-seeded Oklahoma City. The Suns lost to Portland on Friday.

Cousins put up a monster line with 39 points and 20 rebounds and Rudy Gay netted 18 points, but the rest of the Kings lineup contributed just 31 combined points on 12-of-33 shooting.

"I thought their second unit really came in, in both the first and second halves, and just were dominant," Kings coach George Karl said. "We just never got the flow.

The Kings had won four straight games, one shy of matching a season high.

Cousins had 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Davis went 3-for-14 in the first half, but the Pelicans still owned a 46-42 advantage at the break.

Gay scored seven straight Kings points after Ben McLemore put the visitors in front early in the third with a 3-pointer, but Pondexter drilled consecutive 3s at the other end to restore the Pelicans' lead.

Evans scored twice during an 8-0 run later in the period that made it 74-63. The lead grew to 18 in the fourth as the Pelicans coasted to the finish line.