For the third straight game the Trail Blazers struggled out of the gate.
The game began with the Blazers not scoring for the first 3:22 until they were bailed out by a CJ McCollum one-legged mid-range step back jump shot.
While Portland found themselves down 8-2 early, it was followed by a 13-2 Blazers run led by a few Damian Lillard threes and a Noah Vonleh and-one.
Lillard finished with 11 first-quarter points, including three from deep.
The first quarter ended with the Trail Blazers clinging to a 20-19 lead.
Tgeh second quarter opened with two quick threes from the Kings’ Buddy Hield, and the Trail Blazers found themselves a six-point hole before they could say, “BUT WE’RE PLAYING THE KINGS!”
The Trail Blazers trudged into halftime carried by Lillard (5-10 for 16 points) but were down 42-41.
Both squads seem to find a little more rhythm throughout the third quarter. The two teams traded baskets for 11 lead changes and ended with a third-quarter score of 60 apiece.
McCollum and Lillard combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter, but the Trail Blazers lacked any consistent contribution from anyone but the stars in the backcourt.
The Blazers make a valiant attempt to close the gap, but fell short. They failed to get critical stops that were necessary to keep things interesting.
When all was said and done, Lillard and McCollum combined for 48 points on 29 from Lillard and 19 from McCollum. The problem: no other Blazer scored in double figures, which spelled a rough night on the road in Sacramento.
Three Takeaways
The Blazers continue to have success hitting the offensive glass. The Blazers managed to grab 11 offensive rebounds, six of them courtesy of Noah Vonleh and Ed Davis. Portland continued their impressive start to the season as one of the NBA’s best rebounding teams.
The Blazers are currently tied for third in offensive rebounds per game. Tonight was another commendable effort by the Blazers’ big men.
The consistent third scorer is still yet to be found. In the tough road loss in Sacramento tonight, no Blazer player other Lillard and McCollum reached double figures. Evan Turner, Jusuf Nurkic, and Shabazz Napier have all show signs of being ready to step into that third option, but the consistency hasn’t been there.
Turner shot 0-4 tonight, adding two turnovers and no assists with a +/- of -14. Tonight’s game for Evan was a disaster, and he disappeared when the team really needed him
Nurkic again found himself in early foul trouble. This led to fewer minutes, and he has yet to learn how to play effectively when in foul trouble. And even while Nurkic was on the court., his performance tonight was mediocre at best, allowing Willie Cauley-Stein destroy him for 22 points and 10 boards, while only contributing four points and a negative +/- himself.
Napier was coming off an amazing game against the Magic where he scored 19 points and didn’t miss from deep. Unfortunately, his play tonight suggested that Napier may not be someone the Blazers can count on moving forward. He shot 2-7 from the field, scored five points, and had a miserable -9 plus-minus.
Next: Is Shabazz Napier a secret weapon?
There were too many turnovers. Portland sits in the middle of the pack in the NBA for turnovers per game. Tonight, they simply had too many. If you’re going to shoot 37% from the field, you have to take care of the ball. Unfortunately, the Blazers did not. Portland turned the ball over 17 times and had four apiece from McCollum and Nurkic.
Next Game
The Blazers play again tomorrow, Sat. Nov. 18 in a rematch with the Kings at 7pm Pacific in Portland.