Zion Williamson, Pelicans sent Kings to their NBA-high 50th loss.

Zion Williamson scored 23 points, six teammates scored in double figures and visiting New Orleans used a big third quarter to distance itself from the Sacramento Kings for a 133-123 win on Thursday.

Trey Murphy III had 21 points and Saddiq Bey had 20 for the Pelicans, who snapped a two-game losing streak and earned their 20th win of the season.

Precious Achiuwa tied her career high with a game-high 29 points for the Kings. The Kings lost their third straight game this season, becoming the league’s first 50-loss team.

The Kings led twice in the third quarter, the last time when Achiuwa made 1 of 2 free throws for an 81-80 advantage. The Pelicans then went on a 25-point blast over the final 5:44 of the quarter to take a 14-point lead heading into the fourth period.

Bey had a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk in the 15-0 run that started that stretch. The Pelicans were able to take a 95-81 lead heading into the final 15 minutes when Karlo Matkovic hit an alley-oop feed from Jeremiah Fears.

The Kings got as close as 123-116 with 2:44 left in the game, but Herbert Jones hit a 3-pointer and the visitors went home.

Williamson led the Pelicans 50.5 percent to 50.0 percent overall, but hit 10 of 14 shots from beyond the arc on a dominant night and held a 36-24 advantage over Murphy’s 4-for-6 shooting. Sacramento made just 8 of 31 3-point attempts (25.8%).

Pierce had 13 points, six rebounds and a team-high six assists for New Orleans, while Bryce McGowens had 14 points and Jones and Derek Quinn each had 12 points. Matkovic and Queen matched Williamson’s nine rebounds for team-top honors.

Achiuwa, who also scored 29 points last week in Dallas, found time to complete a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Russell Westbrook (19 points, a game-high 10 assists) and Drew Eubanks (15 points, 11 rebounds) also doubled for the Kings, while Malik Monk had 18 points. DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and Maxime Raynaud had 10.

–Field level media