by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The young Portland Trail Blazers outworked the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night and walked away with a 98-94 victory on the road.

The Blazers won the without their star player – Damian Lillard – who is sidelined with left plantar fasciitis.

There were two keys to the Portland (13-20) victory. The first key was the play of guard CJ McCollum who scored 35 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded 9 assists for a solid double-double game.

The second key to the Trail Blazers win was the solid play of their bench. The Portland bench outscored the Kings bench 42-23. Meyers Leonard (16) and Maurice Harkless (13) provided strong play and scoring while the starters were on the bench.

The Trail Blazers demonstrated energy and effort that the Kings were unable to match. This game was the first time this season the Kings lost after leading at halftime. Sacramento was 10-0 when they took a lead to the locker room at the half until Sunday night.

Sacramento (12-18) lacked consistency versus Portland. Their offense was stagnant.

DeMarcus Cousins led the way for the Kings putting up 36 points. Cousins was 12-for-26 from the floor while going 2-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line. When your center leads the team in 3-point attempts, that spells trouble for the offense.

Rudy Gay (7 points) was 2-for-12 shooting. Starting shooting guard Ben McLemore (5) took just one shot from the floor in his 19 minutes of playing time.

The Kings shot 39.5-percent from the field (30-for-76). It is almost impossible to win a game in the NBA when your team shoots under 40-percent.

The other major problem the Kings experienced in the game was turnovers. They committed 23 turnovers in the contest. Those turnovers led to 28 Portland points. A team cannot be that careless with the ball and expect to win.

For Sacramento, it was a very disappointing loss because this was a game that they should have won on their home court. A win would have moved the Kings into the eighth spot in Western Conference by percentage points. This is the type of loss that keeps teams out of the playoffs.

Things get no easier for the Kings as they have to face the Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Monday night. Sacramento will to bring its “A-game” just to be competitive against the best team in the Association.