The Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings chatted Thursday night with a scoring result. They led nose-to-nose in a game for 48 minutes in a game in which no one could maintain a double-digit lead. Portland retained their usual advantage at the three-point arc, but they gave away the advantage by allowing Sacramento to draw like sweets in orbit and on the fly. But the Blazers have a trump card that Sacramento did not have. Damian Lillard reset the victory when the clock in the fourth faded. The Kings could do nothing to stop him. At the end of a long and somewhat messy night, the Blazers scored a 123-119 victory.
Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox scored 32 points, Lillard tipped 44 for the Blazers.
First term
For the second consecutive night, the Blazers started with a less effective defense. The Kings are not the Golden State Warriors. They could not extend a double-digit lead, mostly because they could not defend either. But Sacramento made the best use of middle-distance jumpers and paint points to double Portland by 10-5. The Blazers kept shooting, at least at intervals, but they allowed Sacramento easy points in the transition and just couldn’t put out the fire. As the period progressed, Enes Kanter became a center of offense and helped the Blazers turn the smaller Kings series into halftime. Lillard and De’Aaron Fox were in a running battle throughout the period; Dame turned on the afterburners and closed out the quarter with 15, Fox with 10. When the dust of ALL dropped, Portland led 30-27. Yes, it was a lot.
Second term
Portland’s second unit exploded at the gate in the second period. Nassir Little started with a great drive, followed by tries from Anfernee Simons and, later, Carmelo Anthony. The bank has become a powerful attacking force. The defense could not quite keep up, but Sacramento never managed to tie a long run together. The teams went back and forth until the beginners came in again. Then they went back and forth a little more. The Kings tried the double-team Lillard defense, but they did not have the additional defenders to make it pay. Lady’s teammates passed easily. But every time Portland got an advantage, they gave it back. The Blazers were just 59-56 at halftime.
Third term
The Blazers did just what they wanted when the second half started. They hit three tries and a similar number of lay-ups, with assistants on half of their shots. The offense looked like a greased wheel sliding down an iceberg. Once again, the separation eluded them, as they allowed Sacramento to score in the transition and accumulate paint points. The analytical advantage breaks down if you let the opponent score easily. When the Kings also started scoring tries, Portland’s slim lead evaporated. Portland just kept the opponent hanging. Sacramento led 90-89 after three.
Fourth term
Both teams played positionless basketball to start the fourth … if we mean “positionless” “centerless” and largely “pointless”. The first four minutes of the period looked like a sevens class scrum where people people followed the ball randomly, with lots of bricks adorning the edges.
After this mess, Fox penetrated with pickups for the Kings, who pushed their lead to a relatively large point. Anthony and Rodney Hood sat on the bench again, but Portland still could not keep the Kings out of the ding-dang lane. Sacramento looked good.
But hey, Damian Lillard is NOT going to go into the night quietly. With doubts about the result, he hit a try, drilled a pristine pass to Enes Kanter at the edge and converted a layout quite successfully. AND THEN he hit three more with another 1:56 to give his team a 4-point lead. AND THEN he tapped off another one. He will score 10 points in the piece. Kanter also had a monster effort on defense late in the game. The combination of 1-2 was too much for the Kings to handle. The Kings made it interesting with a few late scores and had a chance to tie the buzzer, but the Blazers made a mistake instead of letting them shoot a try. The Kings played the last free throw. Portland laughed for the last time in the otherwise advanced battle and walked away with the W.
Goal scorer
The Blazers get a week-long break before resuming the season after the All-Star Break. Stay tuned for Steve Dewald’s analysis of this game in the comprehensive summary and join us all weekend for NBA All-Star Game coverage, trade deadlines, and more!