The Sacramento Kings haven't enjoyed much success in the Pacific Northwest in recent years. The frustration continued in a 127-116 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at Moda Center.
The Kings (8-12) were playing without guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who joined point guard De'Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III on the injured list. Bogdanovic was held out with a right knee contusion, but his left hamstring injury was improving, the team said. He is listed as day-to-day.
C.J. McCollum scored 33 points, Hassan Whiteside turned in a monster performance and Carmelo Anthony had another big game for the Blazers (9-13). Damian Lillard had 24 points and 10 assists. Whiteside put up 22 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Anthony finished with 20 points.
Richaun Holmes had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost 12 in a row in Portland since posting their last win there on Dec. 8, 2012. Buddy Hield scored 23 points. Nemanja Bjelica had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Kings caught the Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back following their loss to the Clippers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The Blazers were 0-4 in back-to-back situations going into the game, but they came out energized for this one.
The Kings went up by as many as eight on a couple of occasions in the first and second quarters, but the Blazers led 66-64 at the break after shooting 59.6% in the opening half. The Kings couldn't stop McCollum, who had 23 points in the half, but they hit 10 of 21 from 3-point range to stay in the game.
The Kings kept it close until the fourth quarter when the Blazers staged an 8-0 run to go up 116-105. The Kings got within seven with 2:57 remaining, but they couldn't get any closer.
