(Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer/USA TODAY Images)
A blowout victory is a reminder to stay focused.
Coming into Monday’s tilt against the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers expected to face a full-strength Kings team. With a bunch of playoff teams beginning to rest their star players for the postseason, it seemed odd to see that the Kings elected to rest four of their five starting players.
DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo and even Marco Belinelli sat out and the Kings were forced to start the second-string players. While this seems like a game that the Blazers could check out of, it was actually an important game on many levels.
The Blazers bulldozed the Sacramento Kings 105-93 at the Moda Center. The Blazers improve to 39-36, while the Kings fall to 29-45. The Blazers hold the sixth seed and are just two and a half games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the fifth seed.
It is simply not enough to get up for games against quality opponents. There is the mindset that every team in the NBA can beat anyone, but if the players are being honest, the human bent is to relax or slow down when playing an opponent like the Philadelphia 76ers who have won just nine games, or playing a team that has none of their star players playing such as the Kings.
These last two games have given the Blazers reason to stay the course and keep on moving. It would be easy to mail it in or lazily get through these games. Portland is enjoying the luxury of a late homestand with the first two games of it being against lowly opponents. But, what these two victories showed was that no matter the circumstances, Portland is learning how to take care of their business.
It started with head coach Terry Stotts sending out a full-strength Blazer team and not electing to take this opportunity to rest Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum. There would be no nights off, this is crunch time and Portland is viewing it as so. They are not letting the decisions made by other teams and coaches affect their own circumstances. There is a chance that Portland can sneak into the fifth seed; it would be against their nature to not attempt to grab it.
What does it mean to take care of business in a game like this? The Blazers shot 48 percent from the field all game and converted on 14-of-29 threes, shooting 48 percent from beyond the arc. Portland scored over 30 points in both quarters in the first half, setting the tone immediately that it did not matter if these were players that rarely saw court time. There was no law against being up early. The Blazers zoomed to a sizeable lead, culminating in a third quarter where the Blazers fully pulled away.
The Kings, despite even the remaining talent on the floor, could not buy a basket, shooting 25 percent from the field in the third, while the Blazers outscored them by 12 in the quarter. Lillard and McCollum combined to go 4-of-7 from the field with 12 points. They outscored Sacramento as a team alone in the third. Portland would take as big as a 28-point lead to solidify the conclusion of the game.
Continuing to start Mo Harkless instead of Noah Vonleh, the Blazers are experiencing success. Harkless allows the Blazers to run and he provides a matchup problem that most teams do not realize. In his last four games, including this one, he has combined to score 52 points on 25-of-37 from the field. Most of his damage comes from surprising the opposition and getting transition buckets in the first quarter.
What was impressive was their body language. The Blazers hit their first two shots, both of them being three-pointers. In any game that is a good sign, but it was a great sign as Portland was not taking anything for granted. Lillard was playing aggressively. McCollum was getting into the lane. The ball movement was lighting fast and they were taking advantages of their opportunities.
Portland scored ten points on 15 Sacramento turnovers. Looking at just the final score paints a different picture. What actually transpired was what was expected.
However, Portland still had plenty of problems that hindered them. The Blazers were sloppy with the basketball. Whether it was contagious from the Kings or if they backed off the throttle, Portland turned the ball over 19 times resulting in 17 points for the Kings. Furthermore, the Kings scored 16 second chance points and nabbed 14 fast break points. In the smaller categories, the Blazers lagged behind and significantly.
What saved Portland was their extremely hot shooting from beyond the arc, but what was seen in the fourth quarter was a concerning sight. The Blazers, after Sacramento scored 11 points in the third, scored just 14 points of their in the fourth quarter. While half of the quarter was garbage time, the Blazers struggled getting their first bucket of the quarter with Allen Crabbe, Ed Davis and Gerald Henderson leading the charge.
Shooting 29 percent from the field and the Kings shooting 52 percent, it was a stark reminder of what could have been and how fragile leads can be. Portland had an insurmountable lead and a couple of made buckets by the Blazers sealed it up quickly. But, there were plenty of lessons to be learned for the playoffs and against better teams.
Lillard finished with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 3-of-5 from three with nine assists, but did not play in the fourth quarter. Same with McCollum who had 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, 4-of-6 from three with three assists, two rebounds and one steal.
If anything, tonight was about Al-Farouq Aminu and Crabbe gaining confidence offensively as they scored 14 points and 21 points respectively. Crabbe went 8-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from three.
Putting aside the entertainment aspect of basketball, the Kings provided the Blazers an opportunity to learn and to see where their deficiencies lie. The question is, will it change?
Next up, the Blazers take on the Boston Celtics on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. PST.
Stay tuned!