Game 45 Notes: Tired Sacramento Kings Fall in Rip City
By Rafe Wong
The Sacramento Kings (20-25) were looking to rebound from their heartbreaking loss against the Hornets, but they came out unsuccessful as they lost last night to the Portland Trail Blazers (21-26) 112-97.
Last night’s loss in Portland was the worse defeat the Kings have experienced so far in 2016. With the 8th seed in the Western Conference on the line, the Kings just could not hang with the Blazers as the lead for Portland kept increasing as the game went on.
The game first started with the Kings being competitive, which lasted through the first half of the game as they trailed only by 6 points. As the game kept going in the second half, the Kings started to feel the physical effects of their first game of the back-to-back against Charlotte.
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The night before the Kings played a hard fought game that lasted till double overtime, and because of that, fatigue was expected in some of the players wearing purple. The players on Sacramento ended up proving this notion right, as the team just ran out of gas late in the game, which helped Portland get their lead up to 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the effects from their previous game against the Hornets not only hurt the Kings then, but it carried on towards the Blazers from a physical standpoint.
Fortunately, today is a rest day for the Kings and hopefully, for their sake, they can regain their strength back before they face off against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
Notable Performances
Even though to his standards it was a disappointing performance, DeMarcus Cousins still managed to record 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Rajon Rondo also contributed by scoring 15 points and dishing out 11 assists.
Willie Cauley-Stein continues to thrive with the Kings as he recorded 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks and Marco Belinelli showed signs of getting out of his slump by scoring 14 points off 4-8 shooting.
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For the Blazers, Damian Lillard led the way with 15 points and 13 assists. Other notable Portland players were C.J. McCollum with 18 points and Meyers Leonard who played solid defense against Cousins throughout the game.