Kings Get Past Trail Blazers 123-119
The Sacramento Kings pulled out a 123-119 victory over the number one scoring team in the NBA, beating the Portland Trail Blazers at Sleep Train Arena.
The Kings held the Blazers to only 13 points in the third quarter but Portland came back strong in the fourth, scoring 46 points. Damian Lillard had 26 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game with a career-high of 41 points.
Sacramento led 117-105 with 1:12 to play and Lillard was not going to let his team go down easy, getting Portland within two in the final minute.
"That's the craziest game I have ever been apart of," DeMarcus Cosuins said. "I don't ever want to be in that situation with the ball in Damian Lillard's hands. "
Cousins had his 21st double-double of the season tying his season high in points with 35 and he added 13 boards for the Kings.
"When things were rough towards the end we didn't get rattled we kept playing, that's something we talked about in the meeting. Hopefully we can continue on this right path," Cousins said following the win.
Sacramento benched rookie Ben McLemore who is shooting 36.6 percent from the field. Marcus got his first start since November 9th in the 96-85 loss to the Blazers.
"This is not a demotion for Ben McLemore. This is not us losing confidence or faith in him, Malone said.
"He's been struggling and I wanted to put him in a position where maybe he could have more success coming off the bench."
Portland is the first team in NBA history to hit 20 three pointers twice in a single season but only shot 37 percent behind the arc against Sacramento Tuesday night, going 10-27.
Analysis:
Most would say the "players meeting" the Kings held Monday might've had nothing to do with the win, either way it was a positive because they got the W.
There were a lot of positives about this win for the Kings. They scored a season high of 123 points, only committed a total of eight turnovers and shot 47.1 percent from the field.
Cousins proves why he should be an all-star. In the three games against the Trail Blazers this season he is averaging 34 points and 11.6 rebounds.
Next to Cousins, Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas also scored over 20. Gay finished with a season-high of 32 and Thomas added 22 points and eight assists.
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