Jeremiah Fears had a double-double, Herb Jones excelled in his first start of the season and the New Orleans Pelicans got their first victory by defeating the Sacramento Kings 132-120 on Thursday night in the Smoothie King Center.

Fears had 22 points, a career-high 13 assists and fell two rebounds shy of his first career triple-double; Jones finished with 16 points, Zion Williamson scored 22, Trey Murphy added 19, Karlo Matkovic had 12 and Bennedict Mathurin and Saddiq Bey had 10 each for the Pelicans (1-4), who will face the Atlanta Hawks at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Smoothie King Center.

Guard Dejounte Murray, New Orleans’ leader in assists and second-leading scorer, did not play because he was with his family after the birth of his son. That gave Fears more responsibility and created an opening for Jones to start.

Head coach Jamahl Mosley has said multiple times recently that a priority of his was finding more minutes for Jones, who was a fixture in the starting lineup during his previous five seasons.

Rookie Darius Acuff had 34 points and 12 assists; Precious Achiuwa and De’Andre Hunter scored 24 each and Zach LaVine added 21 to lead the Kings (0-5), who are one of two remaining winless teams along with the Brooklyn Nets.

Jones committed his fourth foul just 12 seconds into the third quarter, but he stayed in the game and helped trigger a pivotal surge for the Pelicans. He scored seven points, as did Fears; Williamson had six and Murphy five during a 25-8 run that gave New Orleans an 88-69 lead midway through the period.

The Kings got as close as 11 points before the Pelicans held a 102-88 lead at the end of the period, their second consecutive 39-point quarter. Sacramento didn’t get any closer than seven points in the fourth quarter.

The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands seven times during the first quarter, which ended with Sacramento holding a 30-24 lead behind Acuff’s 12 points. Murphy led the Pelicans with nine points and former LSU forward Trendon Watford made his New Orleans debut and scored six.

The Pelicans used a 12-0 run early in the second quarter to grab a 36-32 lead. They led by as many as seven points on two occasions before four lead exchanges took place. Fears and Matkovic made consecutive 3-pointers in the final minute to complete a 39-point quarter and help New Orleans take a 63-61 halftime lead.