The road struggles for the Sacramento Kings continued tonight as they lost again by double figures, 101-89 to the Portland Trailblazers. The Kings were without the services of Marcus Thornton (thigh contusion) and Chuck Hayes (dislocated shoulder), while veteran John Salmons went scoreless in 19 minutes after missing Saturday’s game with food poisoning.
DeMarcus Cousins continued his dominant play, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Francisco Garcia and Jimmer Fredette played well off the bench, combining for 25 points while hitting five-for-6 from three-point range.
Jamal Crawford scorched the Kings, scoring 26 points in just 32 minutes of action. Ex-King Gerald Wallace chipped in 20 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers, who are now 10-7 this season.
Notes and Analysis
- Tyreke Evans had a miserable night. He finished the game with five rebounds and five assists, but scored only nine points on two-for-10 shooting. One of those makes was a buzzer-beating half-court shot to end the first half. Without Thornton, the Kings really could have used a big night out of Evans.
- The Kings set a new season high with 23 assists on the night. Rookie Isaiah Thomas led the way with eight dimes in 28 minutes of action.
- Jason Thompson finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds, but played great defense on LaMarcus Aldridge, holding one of the league’s best big men to 13 points, 16 rebounds and six turnovers.
- Jimmer had a productive game, scoring 13 points and hitting three of his four three-point attempts in 21 minutes.
- Donté Greene got the start at small forward tonight, but showed the same inconsistency that’s plagued him his entire career. After scoring 19 points on eight-for-11 shooting against Memphis, Greene missed all four of his three point attempts en route to a 13 point, one rebound performance.
- Cousins had a big night, scoring 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, but shot only four-for-10 from the line. Outside of those six misses, the Kings hit all but one of their other 25 free throws attempts.
- Blazers forward Nicolas Batum went scoreless in 19 minutes of play, shooting 0-for-1 from the field.
- Jamal Crawford very well could have been a Sacramento King this season. The 2010 Sixth Man of the Year chose the Blazers over the Kings during training camp, signing for less money to be closer to his home in Seattle. The Kings definitely could have used the 26 points he added off the bench for Portland tonight.
- Stat of the Night: The Trailblazers out-rebounded the Kings 53-36 on the night. 19 of those rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
