Trail Blazers Hold Off Kings To Streak Into All-Star Break

It took all 48 minutes for the Trail Blazers to beat the Kings, but Portland is heading into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak.

Notes, analysis, observations and highlights from the Portland Trail Blazers' 123-119 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday at Moda Center.

• Playing another defense selling out to stop him, Damian Lillard again proved inevitable. He would have dropped 50 points on the Kings with a more favorable whistle, too. Many times in the first half, especially, Lillard drew contact while attacking the paint only to shoot and miss without getting the call. Kudos to Lillard for keeping his composure amid officiating that often left him frustrated, and understandably so.
• The Kings are a decidedly average offensive rebounding team. Even lineups featuring both of Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III aren't especially effective on the offensive glass. You wouldn't have known it on Thursday, as Sacramento owned their misses early, grabbing a whopping 11 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. The Blazers' small-ball second unit was exploited on the offensive glass once again, but the length and activity of Holmes and Bagley regularly proved too much for the starters, too. The Blazers would have effectively won this game far earlier than its final seconds if not for their immense struggles on the defensive glass. The return of Nurkic should pay dividends there, but keep an eye on Portland's defensive rebounding going forward against teams that play two bigs.

• Enes Kanter was hardly his team's lone issue defensively against the Kings. Points were always bound to come aplenty in this one, too. Still, Thursday's game nevertheless served as a forceful reminder of just how limited Kanter is as a pick-and-roll defender. Sacramento targeted him early and often, making hay in the paint by aggressively getting downhill after ball screens and forcing Kanter to move his feet in short areas. All too often he offered no more resistance than a half-hearted swipe at the ball, yielding easy layups. It wasn't just Fox and Harrison Barnes preying on Kanter, either; even Nemanja Bjelica successfully challenged him twice at the rim. Kanter's sweeping deficiencies on defense are well-known enough now that his performance on that end with Nurkic injured has almost been a pleasant surprise, stats be damned. His levels of effort and activity against Sacramento, though, just weren't enough – well, at least until crunch time, when Kanter played a major part in a handful of Portland stops.
• Derrick Jones Jr. has been a more frequent driver of late, taking advantage of space afforded him on the weak side of the floor and even occasionally attacking gaps in hand-off action. But his effectiveness as a penetrator will always be more about how the defense plays him than how Jones conducts his drives. Case in point: This awesome euro-step, and-1 finish stemmed from Holmes closing out a bit too hard on Jones in the corner. He dropped a slick wraparound pass to Kanter for a Iayup off a straight-line drive from the wing, too. If Jones continues making one or two largely uncontested threes per game, don't be surprised when his drive game reaches a whole new level.

Wow, DJ pic.twitter.com/eOJTDiLoGn

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 5, 2021

• It's not Kanter slander hour. He had 22 points and 21 rebounds, and played a key role all game long as Lillard's primary release valve when the Kings committed two to the ball. He had a few impressive finishes in a crowd, too, using pointed pivots and sharp elbows to create enough space for layups. But with the possible exception of Carmelo Anthony, there isn't a player on Portland's roster who misses passes, looks off teammates and forces shots more than Kanter. In each of the stills below, he elected to go up despite being aggressively double-teamed. The results? Two spiked blocks off the backboard. 

Look at Derrick Jones Jr., wide open for three on the wing :: NBA/NBC Sports Northwest

A kickout to Gary Trent Jr. or Jones would have been preferable :: NBA/NBC Sports Northwest

• Nassir Little's stats don't jump off the box score. He went just 2-of-8 from the field for nine points. But he once again gave the Blazers solid minutes off the bench, draining a three-pointer, driving a close-out for an and-1 and playing active, engaged defense both on and off the ball. Thursday's game was about as comfortable as Little has looked all season. Here's hoping he sustains momentum gleaned from the past few games through the All-Star break and into the second half of the season.
• To be clear, no one is blaming Kanter here – this is just a jaw-dropping finish from De'Aaron Fox. The ingenuity. The body control. The touch. Unbelievable.

• Fox gave his team a chance to win with an assertive, aggressive second half. It wasn't until Terry Stotts brought Jones back in to guard him midway through the fourth quarter that Fox finally slowed down a bit. The Blazers' increased defensive intensity in the clutch no doubt played a role there, too. But it's become increasingly clear as the season's worn on that Jones is easily this team's best option against star opposing ball handlers. Sacramento starting Harrison Barnes at small forward ensured Portland matched up positionally to start the game, with Lillard on Fox and Jones on Barnes. Come playoff time, though, the Blazers should base their perimeter matchups around Jones serving as his team's designated stopper.

Up next: at home against Phoenix Suns on March 11, 7:00 p.m. (PST)