by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings won their first game of the year on Halloween defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 103 – 94. The Kings rode a 40 point performance from Rudy Gay along with playing solid defense and taking care of the basketball to their first win of the 2014-15 season.

Gay shot 13 for 19 from the field including three 3-pointers. He went 11 for 13 from the free throw line. Gay did not try to dominate the game. The game just kept coming to him and he answered the call. It was truly an unselfish 40 point performance that included eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 36 minutes of playing time.

Kings point guard Darren Collison also had a strong game. He scored 17 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, posted eight assists and added three steals in the game. Collison went 5 for 6 from the free throw line.

DeMarcus Cousins recorded 17 points in the Kings victory. Cousins shot just 6 for 16 from the field but went 5 for 6 from the charity stripe. He also recorded nine rebounds in just 31 minutes of playing time. Cousins picked up his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter and spent the rest of that quarter along with part of the fourth period on the bench.

The Kings shot .420 (34-81) from the field. They hit on 4 of 10 attempts (.400) from beyond the 3-point line. Sacramento really helped themselves at the free throw line hitting on 31 of 35 attempts (.886) from the stripe.

The key to the victory was the way the Kings took care of the basketball. After turning the ball over 27 times versus Golden State, the Kings turned the ball over just 10 times against the Trail Blazers. Those turnovers resulted in just 12 points for Portland. Kings coach Michael Malone was very pleased with the way his team protected the ball.

Sacramento also played solid defense versus Portland. The Kings held the Trail Blazers to just .410 (34-83) shooting from the field. The Blazers hit on just 9 of 26 3-point tries. Portland went to the free throw line just 19 times in the game.

The Kings out-rebounded the Trail Blazers 49 – 38.

The Trail Blazers were led by LaMarcus Aldridge who scored 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Damien Lillard posted 20 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists.

After the game, Kings head coach Michael Malone was very excited about his team’s strong effort on defense. He was also very happy about the way the team played unselfish basketball. “Oh, what a great game. I thought our guys played unbelievable tonight on both sides of the ball.”

Rudy Gay said, “I just wanted to be aggressive – for the most part I hadn’t really had a good game this season, preseason or in the season. So I just wanted to make sure this one was.”

Malone said, “The way he (Gay) played tonight, not just on the court but in the huddles, the positive leadership, stressing the ball movement, all the things we’ve been talking about; it’s great when you start hearing the players hold each other accountable.”

The one area of concern for the Kings has to be the lack of production from the shooting guards in the game. Ben McLemore scored just seven points taking only five shots while Nik Stauskas was held scoreless in his 16 minutes of play. The Kings will need to find a way to get the shooting guards more involved in the offense.

The Kings are now 1-1 on the young season and now must ready themselves for their first road contest of the season. Sacramento will face the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Sunday at 12:30 PM.