SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rookie sensation Tyrese Haliburton made his first career start and Hassan Whiteside made a return to coach Luke Walton’s rotation, but neither could help the Sacramento Kings get out of their funk.
CJ McCollum scored 37 points and Damian Lillard added 17, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 125-99 victory over the Kings on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center. McCollum made 13 of 22 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3-point range for the Blazers (5-4), who will host the Toronto Raptors on Monday before returning to Sacramento to face the Kings again Wednesday.
Carmelo Anthony scored 13 points for the Blazers. Jusuf Nurkic and Enes Kanter combined for 21 points and 22 rebounds at the center position.
Marvin Bagley III had 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds for the Kings (4-6), who have lost five of their last six games. Haliburton had 12 points and eight assists. Harrison Barnes finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Whiteside came off the bench to post 11 points and eight rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield struggled for Sacramento. Fox had 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting with two assists and three turnovers. Hield, who came in shooting 35.1% from the field and 34.4% from 3-point range, was held to eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Barnes was asked if the Kings’ defensive struggles have been more about effort, communication or defensive schemes.
“Effort is going to be the biggest priority, and I don’t know if it’s necessarily effort or a sense of urgency,” Barnes said. “That’s the biggest thing. The second thing is communication.”
The Kings announced shortly before the game center Richaun Holmes would not play due to left ankle soreness. With Holmes out of the lineup, Walton chose to start a small-ball lineup of Fox, Hield, Haliburton, Barnes and Bagley.
McCollum scored 12 points in the opening period to help the Blazers build a 38-24 lead. In an effort to improve the team’s rim protection, Walton turned to Whiteside, who did not appear in three of the past four games.
Walton hinted at Whiteside’s return after the Raptors scored a franchise-record 144 points in a win over the Kings on Friday. Whiteside averaged 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks for the Blazers last season. Walton explained he has been staying with more athletic and switchable lineups, saying Whiteside’s recent lack of playing time was not due to his performance.
“It’s not performance based,” Walton said. “We know what he can do. He’s very good at his job. It’s been more matchup based. It’s been more me wanting to get out and push our pace and really get that point home with our guys.”
The Kings used a zone defense and a lineup consisting of Haliburton, Hield, Robinson, Barnes and Whiteside to cut the deficit to seven early in the second quarter, but they couldn’t keep up the resistance. The Blazers hit the Kings with a 9-1 run to take a 66-45 lead after a barrage of 3-pointers from Lillard, Gary Trent Jr. and Robert Covington. They led by 17 at the half and went up by as many as 31 in the third quarter.
“It’s frustrating,” Haliburton said. ”We’re young, but that’s not an excuse by any means. We’ve got to figure it out. There’s nobody coming to save us. We’ve got to do it ourselves.”
HARRY GILES III HEARTS SACRAMENTO
Harry Giles III didn’t get to feel the familiar roar of the crowd because of the pandemic, but he made his return to Sacramento in a Blazers uniform Saturday after the Kings let him go in free agency.
Giles signed a one-year, $1.7 million deal with the Blazers in November. He came in averaging 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 8.4 minutes per game.
Giles checked into the game for the first time with 5:33 to play in the fourth quarter. He finished with two rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in five minutes. He had a vicious dunk attempt blocked by Chimezie Metu in the final minutes.
Giles announced his arrival with two heart emojis on his Instagram story when the Blazers flew in to Sacramento on Friday. He averaged 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 104 games for the Kings, endearing himself as a beloved fan favorite who connected with the Sacramento community from the moment he was drafted out of Duke in 2017.
Fans won’t be permitted inside Golden 1 Center for some time because of COVID-19 restrictions, but one day Giles will get a proper Sacramento reception.
ANOTHER KINGS CONNECTION
There was some dismay in Sacramento when Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. broke out in the NBA bubble last season, averaging 16.9 points in eight seeding games before the playoffs began.
The Kings drafted Trent from Duke with the 37th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but they traded his rights to the Blazers for two future second-round picks and cash considerations. The Kings used one of those picks to draft Justin James in 2019. The other will be conveyed in 2021.
Trent had 10 points against the Kings. He is averaging 11.3 points in 22.2 minutes per game for the Blazers this season. He is shooting 45.5% from 3-point range on 5.5 attempts per game, even better than last season when he shot 41.8% on 4.4 attempts per game. He came off the bench to score 28 points in a 115-107 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 28, making 10 of 14 from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
