The Sacramento Kings suffered another loss on Friday night, this time in their home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Sacramento Kings showed improvement across the board on Friday, elevating their offensive output and cutting back on turnovers (albeit only slightly). Sacramento just could not get a handle on Portland defensively, as Damian Lillard and Hassan Whiteside combined for 57 points on 21 of 30 from the field.
Another Blazers bright spot was Anfernee Simons, noted King killer. In last year’s season finale, the then-rookie scored a career-high 37 points to go along with 9 assists and 6 rebounds. In Friday’s game, Simons scored a big 15 points and went 3 for 6 from deep.
The Kings showed promise, especially in the first half when they were able to take a seven-point lead with three minutes left in the second quarter. But the second-half woes continued for Sacramento, as they have now been outscored 135 to 91 after halftime so far this season.
Here are three things we learned about the Kings in their loss to the Trail Blazers.
Big Men Are A Big Problem
The Kings have issues in the interior, both offensively and defensively.
In the first game, Sacramento gave up 18 points and 11 rebounds to Deandre Ayton who went 9 for 14 from the field. Two nights later, Whiteside put up 22 and 9 on 9 for 10. Their Kings’ counterparts were underwhelming.
While Ayton and Whiteside are certainly talented big men, Sacramento has yet to go up against any of the league’s most dominant interior players. Rudy Gobert will get his first shot at the Kings tonight, and Nikola Jokic will get his chance on Monday.
The task of finding a way to lock down opposing centers and power forwards will be difficult. The Kings looked outmanned in the paint even with a healthy rotation, and things will get even worse given Marvin Bagley’s injury and impending absence.