Portland Trail Blazers bench leads team to win over Sacramento Kings

The Portland Trail Blazers returned to NBA action with a 127 – 102 win over the Sacramento Kings, The Blazers bench was excellent in the opening win.

NBA Basketball has returned, with the Portland Trail Blazers completing a victory over the Sacramento Kings in both team’s first pre-season hit-out.

In a game where both teams played their benches for significant minutes, the Blazers prevailed with a promising 127 – 102 win.

The Blazers played all bar two of their fit players, with only Jusuf Nurkic and Nassir Little not getting game time. The standout performers were Carmelo Anthony who top-scored with 21 points, Harry Giles who had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Gary Trent Jr. and CJ McCollum who both had 18 points.

Most of the non core members of the squad got the majority of the minutes, with McCollum and Lillard not playing as much. Rookie CJ Elleby got to play 29 minutes, and new additions Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr played 25 each.

The Blazers three-point shooting was a standout factor in this contest, as they canned 17 out of 34 attempts, for an excellent rate of 50 percent. They also shot 51.1 percent from the field.

Defensively they also forced eight steals, and blocked nine shots, as they restricted the Kings to just 36.8 percent from the field. Overall this was an excellent hitout where the Blazers front office and coaching staff were able to look at all their new additions while most of the other squad members got significant playing time.

Their next pre-season game is on Sunday, again against the Kings.