Stockton Kings forward Colby Jones drives the ball against the Rip City Remix at the Moda Center in Portland in G League action on Mon Jan 6, 2024 (Stockton Kings X photo)

By William Espy

The Stockton Kings visited Portland, OR once again to take on the Rip City Remix in the second half of a back-to-back series. The Kings remain undefeated with a 129-105 win over the Remix on Monday night at Moda Center.

Entering the game, the Kings found themselves tied with the Santa Cruz Warriors for first place in the Western Conference. Both teams were 4-0, and Stockton wanted to extend their winning streak to five games. Meanwhile, Rip City wanted to stay above .500 as they entered the night 1-1.

A win would have major implications for both teams, and given their previous meeting was decided by just seven points, it seemed obvious this would be a hard-fought battle.

The Kings got out to a quick 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the night. While the Kings maintained a lead for the rest of the first quarter, Rip City was able to make it closer as it progressed. After 12 minutes, Stockton’s lead was reduced to just four points as it was 29-25 in their favor.

In the second quarter though, the Kings extended their lead back into double-digits as they led 50-33 at the midway-point of the frame. That number would only continue to grow, as Stockton had a substantial 62-38 lead heading into halftime. They had a massive lead, and now all they needed to do was keep their foot on the gas if the Kings wanted to move to 5-0 to start the regular season.

Stockton maintained pressure to start the third quarter. They kept their lead to 20 or more points for the majority of the quarter and all the way through to the end of it. It seemed that things were heading in their favor and the Kings just needed to close it out.

Rip City started bringing it back a little in the fourth quarter, but they still had a massive hill to climb. Despite the Remix’s push, the Kings weren’t slipping either. Both teams were getting short bursts of momentum, but the gap wasn’t wildly changing.

The Kings ultimately walked away with a 129-105 win. They were led by Colby Jones’ 32 points, while Jon Elmore had a very respectable 24 of his own. James Bouknight led the Remix in scoring with 28 points in the losing effort.

After two hard-fought games the Kings ended up sweeping their trip to Oregon, as they improved to 5-0 on the season and Rip City fell to 1-2.