West Notes: Kings, Domantas Sabonis, Lakers, Pelicans

Kings

Center Domantas Sabonis now has the most triple-doubles in the NBA this season, recording his 16th in a win over the short-handed Nuggets on Friday.

Sabonis finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists — and he just happened to do it against the man with whom he had previously been tied. That would be none other than Denver center Nikola Jokic.

“Going against the best is always more exciting, more fun,” Sabonis told reporters. “You always want to challenge yourself as a competitor. As a competitor you always want to go against the best.”

• Sabonis is attempting to become the second Kings player during the Sacramento era to lead the league in triple-doubles. Former big man Chris Webber tied Jason Kidd for the league lead with five in 1999-2000. 

Lakers

GM Rob Pelinka explored plenty of trades before Thursday’s deadline, but found no deal he liked.

“You can’t buy a house that’s not for sale,” Pelinka told reporters. “We spend a lot of time looking for ways to use assets to make our team better. But the right move wasn’t there.”

Los Angeles didn’t have a ton to give up, either.

“In terms of what was available at the trade deadline, we had one first-round draft pick,” Pelinka said. “It was our only sort of hook to fish with. And this summer in June, we, at the time of the draft, we’ll have three first-round draft picks to look for deals, which I think will really unlock access to potentially a greater or bigger swing.”

• On the bright side for LA, help is on the way, In case you missed it, the Lakers are expected to officially sign guard Spencer Dinwiddie when he clears waivers. We have the full story here.

Pelicans

The Pelicans gave up an embarrassing 51 points in the second quarter in Friday’s loss to the Lakers — not a number you’d expect to see from a team that intends to make some noise in the postseason.

“We just didn’t have a physical defensive presence tonight,” coach Willie Green told reporters. “I thought we started the game well. But that second quarter got away from us. Fifty-one points is a lot to overcome against a team this good. I don’t think either team played great defense. But they definitely hit some shots.”

• New Orleans reportedly had been in talks with the Hawks about guard Dejounte Murray leading up to the trade deadline — but ultimately decided to stand pat. “We have been in what felt like ‘deal’ mode for a long time,” executive vice president David Griffin told reporters. “We tried to be as opportunistic as we could. Obviously, our job is to listen to every possible thing that is out there to get us better.”