Trail Blazers take care of business, beat Kings 116-99

The Trail Blazers (35-26) kept their foot (mostly) on the throttle, handling the Sacramento Kings with relative ease to win their fourth game in a row.

If Saturday’s tilt against the Phoenix Suns was what they call a classic trap game, then the same could be said of the Trail Blazers’ home matchup against the lowly Sacramento Kings.

Not to worry, though. Led once again by Damian Lillard, who scored 26 points and had 12 assists, and with help from a slump-busting Shabazz Napier (20 points on 6-of-7 shooting), Portland dispatched the Kings 116-99 at the Moda Center.

Portland shot 52.4 percent from the field (44.1 percent from three). All five starters scored in double figures. And it was an all-around effort. Ed Davis finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. Zach Collins added eight points and six rebounds (2-of-3 from three). Jusuf Nurkic scored 17 points and had nine rebounds. Al-Farouq Aminu (13 points and eight rebounds) and Maurice Harkless (10 points on 4-of-5 shooting) were also instrumental.

Here’s what was on my mind as I watched the game unfold. (Besides the spaghetti and meatballs that my lovely wife cooked for dinner.)

FIRST HALF

Lillard scored the first five points of the game (two on a stop-and-pop, followed by a deep three) and assisted on three more, when he dished to Maurice Harkless, who nailed a corner three.

And just like that, it was 8-0.

For the rest of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers kept the Kings at a distance.

CJ McCollum was off to a rough shooting start.

In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers continued to keep the Kings at bay.

SECOND HALF

The Kings cut into the Blazers’ lead in the third quarter; with 7:14 left, Portland was up by seven, 73-66.

And McCollum’s bad game got worse. He’d finish with 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting. (0-5 from three.)

But the Blazers managed to stay comfortably ahead, taking a 12-point lead into the final quarter.

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The Kings did pull within six points, 88-82, about a minute into the fourth. But that was as much of a threat as the Kings could muster.

Final score: Trail Blazers 116-99.

TAKEAWAYS

No. 1

As I mentioned above, this was the Trail Blazers’ fourth win in a row. They’ll try to win five in a row for the first time all season when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday.

No. 2

This was the final game between Portland and Sacramento. The Trail Blazers won three out of the four games.

No. 3

Maurice Harkless. Maurice Harkless. And Maurice Harkless. The Blazers are a different team when he contributes even a little bit.

No. 4

This: