A rough night for the Sacramento Kings on the second night of a back-to-back was compounded by a lower back injury to promising young forward Keegan Murray.
Murray, who was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2022-23, stayed in the locker room at halftime as the New Orleans Pelicans ballooned their lead to 30 points, threatening to end the Kings’ six-game winning streak. The team announced Murray would not return midway through the third quarter.
Murray before his exit played 16 minutes, scoring five points on 1-of-3 shooting with three rebounds.
The Kings also lost guard Chris Duarte to a left hand injury in the first half. The team later announced he would not return.
Murray is averaging 13.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals in his second NBA season. Duarte is averaging 5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
The losses of Murray and Duarte added to Sacramento’s recent injury woes. Keon Ellis (ankle), Alex Len (ankle), Trey Lyles (calf) and Sasha Vezenkov (thumb) were all ruled out before the game.
