Sacramento Kings forward Domanta Sabonis (11) and Portland Trailblazers center Deandre Ayton (2) battle for a rebound at the Moda Center in Portland Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

In a hotly contested game the Sacramento Kings (25-26) fell to the red-hot Trail Blazers (23-29) 108-102. This was Portland’s sixth win in a row and their 10th win of the last 11 games. The Kings had this game pretty within their reach but the final three minutes of the game proved to be their undoing.

Domantas Sabonis fouled out in the final minutes and the Kings just fell short. Despite not having any practice time with his new team, Zach LaVine finished with 19 points and we are sure to see a lot more with each game. The Blazers killed Sacramento with 16 shots from behind the arc while the Kings could not keep pace shooting for 10 three’s.

Game recap: The opening quarter was a most competitive one and after the first 12 minutes of play the game was tied at 27. The second quarter continued to be a back and forth fight with the Trail Blazers outscoring the Kings 27-23 and leading at the half 54-50. The Trail Blazers had taken as much as a five point lead in the second quarter.

DeMar DeRozan had a slow start in the first half. Domantas Sabonis also had a quiet first quarter but began to heat up in the second. The good news for Sacramento was that they were hanging in this game in the first half. The shot that was taking its toll was the three and it was Portland that was hitting them. They just could not miss and the Kings would need to shut that down in the third quarter.

After a back and forth first half, the Kings began to take a bit of a lead towards the end of the third quarter. With 1:57 left in the third the Kings had taken a 77-71 lead but Portland came roaring back to pull to within one point 77-76 in the final seconds.

As the third quarter came to an end, the Trail Blazers had taken back the lead 79-77. After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, the Trail Blazers only had two in the quarter. The Kings had eight turnovers through three quarters. This game had been closely contested and it all came down to the fourth quarter. Sacramento was aiming to break Portland’s five game win streak and they would need to dig deep to do it.

The Trail Blazers continued to taunt the Kings with three more shots from beyond the arc to start the final quarter. With 9:24 left in the game Portland had hit 14 three’s. At the ten minute mark, the Trail Blazers had taken an 85-79 lead.

The Kings answered taking back the lead only to relinquish it back to Portland 96-93 at 3:55 in this fast paced game. In a game this tight, Sacramento had plenty of opportunity to come out of this one with a win.

The largest lead for both of these teams had been six points apiece. In a horrible turn with under three minutes left on the clock, Domantas Sabonis fouled out of the game and the Kings would really have their work cut out for them. The Kings inability to shut down the Trail Blazers three-point shot was their undoing. The final was 108-102 in favor of Portland.

The Kings entire starting lineup finished the game in double figures. Domantas Sabonis had his customary double double with 14 rebounds and 10 points. The high for the Kings was DeMar DeRozan with 22 followed by Malik Monk with 21 and Zach LaVine with 20.

The high score for the Trail Blazers was Anfernee Simons with 30 points. They got some great work off the bench from Shaedon Sharpe with 24 points. They finished with 35 points off the bench to the Kings 15 points.

Game notes: After a tough loss to the Miami Heat at Golden 1 Wednesday night the Kings were back on the road in Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. Portland is on a roll winning ten of their last 11 games and five in a row.

The Heat ruined the debut of new King Zach LaVine who finished the game with 13 points as he continues to work into the Sacramento lineup. Having played Wednesday night, the Kings has had practically no practice time with LaVine.

Thursday night, the Kings couldn’t contain Deandre Ayton as well as points from beyond the arc in which the Blazers excel Ayton had 18 points, in fact, Portland shot 14 three’s in Wednesday night game against the Pacers. With the course that Portland is on right now, the Blazers proved a tough matchup especially since this game was at Moda Center.

The Kings have now suffered two losses in a row and will be looking to put an end to this unsavory streak when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans at Golden 1 on Saturday night. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.