The Trail Blazers scored their third straight win on Thursday with an experienced 123-119 victory over the Kings. Led by Damian Lillard’s 44-point burst, the Blazers did just enough to survive an energetic Kings group. Opposite Lillard, De’Aaron Fox scored 32 points – 18 of which came in the final frame of the game.
After a long last minute, which included a series of unlikely plays and outcomes (more on that later), the Blazers claimed a solid victory ahead of the All-Star Game.
Consult our Instant Recap for a detailed overview of the action.
Here are the key points that stood out tonight’s result.
Mix-and-Match Dame
Each quarter of the game has a different rhythm and style of pick-and-roll offense than Lillard. In the first quarter, the former Weber State star methodically put his defender to sleep by dancing around Enes Kanter. From outside the arc, Lillard masterfully placed his deadly shot back into the mix of balanced side moves. By keeping his defender guessing, Lillard yielded an error-free 15 points in the opening frame.
After Lillard was back in action in the second quarter, he used a more dynamic set of downhills. The pace change left his primary defender in the dust and forced the Kings’ defense to pursue him aggressively as he cut through the paint. That shift in attention opened the floor for Enes Kanter to complete undisputed shots at the edge. Somehow Lillard managed to change his pace and weave through the Kings defense without committing a single turnover in 38 minutes of action.
In the final series, Lillard’s attack spurred a 10-0 run that put the Blazers back in front of the Kings as the one-minute mark approached. Thanks to his clutch and versatile scoring ability, Portland’s recent four-game losing streak feels like a distant memory.
Better late than never
Through simple ball movement and textbooks, the Kings were just a pass and got away from easy buckets throughout the night. Sacramento used 18 offensive rebounds and 25 shots as a team. No matter what the situation was, it felt like the Kings had an extra man on the floor every time. Even Kanter, who scored 21 rebounds, looked like he was trapped in quicksand for long stretches.
The action below was not the only problem for Portland. For most of the game, the Blazers’ only reliable defensive game was the hope that someone could hide the ball while ball handlers flew to the basket.
After a wave led by the Kings through Fox, the Blazers came up against an uphill climb in the final moments. Guided by Kanter’s troublesome play, the Portland defense somehow turned the tide with successive stops. Added between Lillard’s star production on offense, Kanter forced turnover and dismissed shots with the game on the line.
Late-game lessons
Judging by the final seconds of this game, the basketball gods seemed to have squeezed every bit of juice out of the Blazers’ pre-break schedule. The Kings got new life after Robert Covington committed an over-and-over offense with 10.9 seconds left. Things got even tighter after Fox added 6.6 seconds over a three-pointer to the Sacramento score and pulled the Kings within a single point.
Then … well … things got bad.
Before three points after some free throws from Gary Trent Jr., the Blazers decided to force Fox straight from the incoming offense and force him to the line twice. Fox made the first and then deliberately missed the second shot with a line drive attempt that cleared the edge and hit the bottom of the back plate.
Initially, officials ruled the attempt was a foul – as the ball did not touch the edge. Blazers ball. After review, it was decided that the ball had technically contacted the skin when it came in contact with the orange square connecting the edge to the back plate. Call flipped. Luckily for Portland, Kanter settled down after the miss – keeping the ball in the Blazers’ possession.
In a strange year of basketball, the order and result gave a new lesson.
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Box count
Damian Lillard, Robert Covington and Anfernee Simons return to the floor for the festivities at the All-Star Game in Atlanta on Sunday.