Kings’ Darius Acuff Jr. joins LeBron James in rare NBA club with fiery stats vs. Pelicans

The Sacramento Kings are still winless through five games into their 2026-27 NBA season, but at least they know they have a special young talent in Darius Acuff Jr . The 19-year-old rookie Acuff went off with an impressive individual performance in Thursday night’s 132-120 loss at the hands of Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The former Arkansas Razorbacks star guard produced a game-high 34 points on 13-for-26 shooting from the field, but he also figured in Sacramento’s offense a lot beyond just putting up buckets.