Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) dribbles on Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) in second half action at the Rose Quarter in Portland on Fri Nov 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Sacramento Kings (9-11) suffered a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers (8-12) 115-106 in Portland. It was a really off night for Keegan Murray who came away with three points scored in the final minutes of the game.

Missed shots, 20 turnovers, and no success rebounding offensively led to the terrible showing. DeMar DeRozan was not in the lineup tonight with back issues and it was an off night for the Kings with not much going right. Malik Monk finished with the team high of 29, De’Aaron Fox with 22 and Domantis Sabonis with 21. Sabonis did have another double double with 12 rebounds.

Game recap: The Kings took a slim lead for the first half of the opening quarter. At 3:54 the Blazers took their first lead of the game prompting a Sacramento timeout. The Kings took back the lead 24-18 with under three minutes in the quarter. Domantas Sabonis already had 14 points with under two minutes left in the first 12 minutes of play. As the first quarter came to an end the Kings had established a 30-25 lead.

The Trail Blazers continued to trail but not by much; they remained within striking distance through the first four minutes of the second quarter. With 8:48 left in the quarter the Kings took another timeout hanging onto a 35-33 lead.

Portland was hanging tough and refused to go away. With six minutes left in the half the score was tied at 39. Sacramento already had 11 turnovers and the Trail Blazers went on a run taking a 49-41 lead winning the battle in the paint.

They had a 54-50 lead going into the second half. The Kings had 14 turnovers in the first half and the Trail Blazers were limiting the Kings offensive rebounds.

Sacramento continued to fall further and further behind and with 8:10 left in the third quarter were trailing 55-68 and another Kings timeout. This game was turning into a blowout, the turnovers continued and the Trail Blazers continued to win the battle under the glass.

After three, Portland continued to dictate the pace of the game leading 87-72. Murray remained scoreless, Kevin Huerter came out of the game with injury and the Kings had dug a hole that continued to grow deeper and deeper trailing 72-87.

Going into the fourth quarter nothing much indicated an upswing for Sacramento. They were on the edge of 20 turnovers with 19. Portland had a death grip on their lead and they were not letting go.

The Kings did finish with 20 turnovers and they were pretty flat all night. The Trail Blazers really got the game in their direction in the third quarter outscoring the Kings 33-22 putting this game pretty much on ice. The final score was 115-106.

Game notes: Friday night the Kings took a little trip up north to take on theTrail Blazers at Moda Center. The Kings will again be without DeMar DeRozan who was ruled out for Friday night’s game. Two weeks ago DeRozan missed three consecutive games with lower back soreness and after a three-game return he was sidelined again.

While the Kings missed DeRozan, they did have Malik Monk back on the bench so Sacramento does have the fire-power as Monk scored 29 points. Sacramento’s Keon Ellis was on starting roster in the absence of DeRozan. Ellis scored six points on Friday night.

Sunday evening the Kings will take on the San Antonio Spurs At Golden 1 looking to put out a much improved effort. Hopefully DeMar DeRozan, who is listed to return Sunday, will indeed be able to take the court. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 6:00 PM.