The Sacramento Kings rested DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo in last night’s 105-93 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Kings let some of their younger players (and veteran bench players) get playing time at the end of another lottery-bound season.
There might be a little tanking involved by resting the Kings’ big three for a road game at the Moda Center. If Sacramento doesn’t land one of the top ten lottery picks this season, then the pick goes to the Chicago Bulls. It also makes sense to get younger players like Seth Curry and Willie Cauley-Stein some solid NBA minutes. The Kings probably also want their starters well rested for their last few home games EVER at Sleep Train (Arco) Arena.
Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein has been having solid scoring games lately (26 and 21 points in the last two games) and he recorded another double-double last night. He tallied 13 points but this time around he proved he can crash the boards and pulled in a career-best 14 rebounds.
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Seth Curry also got a lot of playing time, including the entire fourth quarter. He finished with the team-and-career-high 21 points. Veteran forward Omri Casspi also scored 18 for Sacramento.
The Kings only had nine available players last night which meant that even the seldom seen Caron Butler got to play. The loss was the third for the Kings in the season series with the Blazers.
Sacramento was competitive for three of the four quarters but just couldn’t keep up with Portland. Both teams combined for 69 points in the first quarter. The Blazers made 11 three-pointers in the first half alone. At halftime, Portland held a 16-point lead and they increased their lead to 28 after three.
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Sacramento only scored 11 points in the third quarter and their perimeter defense suffered as usual. Portland finished with 14 three-pointers. Allen Crabbe led The Blazers with 21 points off the bench.
The Kings’ well-rested starters are expected to play in Wednesday’s game against Washington at Sleep Train Arena.