The Portland Trail Blazers look to rebound from Wednesday and tally their first win of the season Friday night in Sacramento versus the Kings.
After a disappointing performance in their home opener defeat to the Nuggets, the Portland Trail Blazers‘ mindset must now quickly shift on to Sacramento. The Kings, as well as the Blazers, fell short in their season opener in which we saw Phoenix torch Sacramento in the second half after the Kings came out scorching hot on the shoulders of Buddy Hield.
The Trail Blazers on the other hand, got their usual production from Damian Lillard who showed no signs of any rust in the arsenal. Sadly, the same can’t be said for CJ McCollum who struggled all night, shooting just 5-for-18 from the field.
Hassan Whiteside made his Rip City regular season debut and didn’t disappoint for a second. The big man out of Marshall was excellent tallying 16 points and 19 rebounds in just 26 minutes of play while shooting perfect from the free-throw line.
The Blazers’ advantage in this matchup will come from the inside, as the Kings reported yesterday that Marvin Bagley will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks due to a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. With the Kings being thin at the center position, Portland will need a dominant performance from the likes of Whiteside and promising power forward Zach Collins.
Kings say forward Marvin Bagley III has a non-displaced fracture (right thumb) sustained during Wednesday’s game vs. Phoenix. Bagley is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 24, 2019
The main concern for the Trail Blazers entering their inter-conference matchup with the Kings should be focused around the 3-point line, the same area of the court in which the Blazers got exposed by the Nuggets as constant open 3-pointers were coughed up on Wednesday night.
A major key for the Blazers to get back on the winning path is to slow down Buddy Hield. In the Kings’ season opener no real production was generated from any member of the Sacramento squad except for Hield. Bagley was the second-leading scorer, but played poorly and was extremely inefficient — but he will be irrelevant in regards to Friday night’s game.
If the Trail Blazers fail to step up to the challenge on the perimeter, then the Kings could end up having a field day offensively. Between Hield’s hot hand from behind the arc and the blinding speed of De’Aaron Fox, the Blazers need to be ready to give back more than they get.
Expect this Portland Trail Blazers team to come out prepared and energized against the Kings. The Blazers stop in Sacramento marks the first of four straight on the road so getting off to a good start will be vital in this early stretch of the season.