After being able to keep it close with the Portland Trail Blazers for much of the first half, the Sacramento Kings faltered in the second half, resulting in a 102-90 loss for the Kings on the second night of a back to back.
The offense never got going to Sacramento who shot 35.6% from the field in the first half and 38.2% for the entire game.
The Kings went ten players deep in the first 14 minutes of game time, having all hands on deck with Buddy Hield (ankle) and Vince Carter (kidney stones) missing the game.
Defensively, the intensity from Friday night, when they held Portland to just 82 points, carried over for some of first half. But wore off when the Blazers went on a mini-run to take a 53-41 halftime lead.
Portland then opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run, and never looked back. A brief 10-1 run by the Kings cut the Blazers’ lead to 12 points, but the purple and white couldn’t capitalize anymore as Portland outscored Sacramento 17-12 down the stretch to end the third up 80-63.
The fourth quarter was much of the same for the Kings. Even though they outscored the Blazers 27-22 in the fourth, it was far too little, far too late.
Takeaways:
Buddy Hield missed tonight’s game after injuring his ankle in last night’s 86-82 win. There’s still no definitive timetable for his return, but more information should be available in the coming days.
With tonight’s loss, the Kings fall to 4-12 for the season and still with no clear answer as to how to get their offense going. They also drop to 0-3 on the second night of a back to back for the season, each loss coming by double digits.
Willie Cauley-Stein continued his strong play off the bench. After recording 22 points with 10 rebounds Friday night, he added another 18 points and 9 rebounds last night on 6/13 shooting. He led the Kings in scoring for a second straight game.
Garrett Temple and Skal Labissiere both had nights to forget. Combining to shoot 0/17 with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
On a more positive note, however, the Kings appear to have found a solid combination for their starting backcourt. Fox and Hill combined for 23 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists while shooting 50% from the floor.
Next Up: The Sacramento Kings (4-12) Take On The Denver Nuggets (9-6) in Sacramento Monday Night.