The Portland Trail Blazers lit the Sacramento Kings up from long range Monday night, hitting 11 3-pointers before the teams could even get into the locker room for halftime. Perimeter defense has been an issue all season for the Sacramento Kings and Blazers head coach Terry Stotts game-planned accordingly, helping his team come away with the 105-93 victory.
Allen Crabbe has feasted on the Kings this season and Monday night was no different. The 23-year-old wing hit 8-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from distance on his way to a game-high 21 points.
C.J. McCollum looked like he was shooting a miniature basketball into an oversized rim. The Lehigh University star has improved greatly in Year No. 3 and he ate the Kings alive in limited minutes. McCollum dropped in 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from downtown.
Ed Davis made an immediate impact on the game, doing all of the dirty work for Portland. He finished the night with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Athletic forward Maurice Harkless got loose for 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and Al-Farouq Aminu finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The short-handed Kings needed a team effort with 60 percent of their starting lineup taking the night off and they didn’t get it.
Omri Casspi came to play, but he was one of the few. Casspi finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. He is one of the few Kings players to bring consistent energy every game this season, it just wasn’t enough tonight.
Seth Curry is making the most of his opportunity. Starting for the third straight game, Curry scored a career-high 21 on 9-for-17 shooting. He added four rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes of action.
Darren Collison started at the point for Rajon Rondo and played exceptional defense on Damian Lillard. On the offensive end the veteran point guard attacked the defense of the Blazers, finishing with 10 points and a team-leading seven assists.
Coming off back-to-back 20-plus point performances, rookie Willie Cauley-Stein didn’t find things quite as easy without Rondo setting him up for lobs. He still managed to add 13 points and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds off the bench for his third double-double of the season.
Kosta Koufos hit for 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds starting for DeMarcus Cousins.
STANDOUT PERFORMER:
The Blazers 3-point shooting in the first half was incredible. McCollum, Crabbe, Harkless, Aminu, Lillard and Gerald Henderson combined to knock down 11-for-15 deep before the intermission for a total team effort.
TURNING POINT:
The Kings played the Blazers straight up for about 10 minutes and then the 3-ball started hitting. The Kings trailed 68-52 at the half and by the end of the third quarter the game was already over at 91-63 Portland.
INJURY UPDATE:
Four of Sacramento’s regulars took the night off, including DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay who were rested by the team. Marco Belinelli missed his second straight game with a sore right foot.
WHAT'S NEXT:
The Kings return home to face John Wall and the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night for one of the final five games in the history of Sleep Train Arena.
