Blazers Rout Kings In Preseason Opener

Portland ran away with the game late as Sacramento began its preseason with a blowout loss

NBA basketball is back.

The Sacramento Kings returned to action on Friday night, falling to the Portland Trail Blazers by a final of 127-102 at Moda Center in Portland.

Sacramento and Portland got off to fast starts in the opening period, scoring 77 combined points over the first 12 minutes.

Buddy Hield looked good in his first action since the NBA Bubble, scoring 16 of his 23 points in the first half. Hield was lethal from the three-point line, knocking down five long-balls over 23 minutes.

Rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton got a chance to log his first NBA minutes, scoring five points to go along with three rebounds and two steals over 20 minutes.

A cleanly-shaved Harrison Barnes put forward a strong showing for Sacramento, contributing 16 points and four rebounds.

Former Kings forward Harry Giles III came back to haunt his former team, dropping an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double on eight-of-13 from the field.

Portland gave the Kings fits on the perimeter, hitting 17-of-34 three-point attempts in the win.

Coming Up

Sacramento will face the Blazers again on Sunday afternoon before heading back to California.

Marvin Bagley III and Hassan Whiteside will rejoin the team when they return following the trip to Portland. Both are considered questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

Be sure to tune in for the second preseason game against Portland on Sunday night, with tip-off coming at 6:00pm PST right here on Sports 1140 KHTK.

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