Blazers News: Kings Coach Calls Out Own Team After Loss to Portland

Matt Levine | 3 Hours Ago

Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers took down the Sacramento Kings on Friday night by a score of 115-106. It marked another solid outing from the Trail Blazers as they look to be as competitive as possible this season.

Portland now sits with a record of 8-12 on the year, looking more formidable than many expected. The Trail Blazers aren't considered a good team but they are no longer a pushover anytime they step onto the court.

After the game, Kings coach Mike Brown was furious with his team. Brown called out his own team due to the loss to Portland.

“Gotta give Portland credit. They figured out a way to get a win but the thing that I’m extremely disappointed in, I’m extremely disappointed in our guy’s ability to mentally come into a game like this and lock in. We had 14 turnovers in the first half and at least 3/4 of them were unforced just throwing the ball all over the place, dribbling off our feet, and being really soft and careless with the basketball,” Brown said.

The Trail Blazers played solid defense on the Kings all night and it frustrated Sacramento. Portland was coming off a loss to the Indiana Pacers and they wanted to make a statement at home in front of their fans.

“Take it a step further. We talked about these guys for the whole two days. They want to hit the paint, they want to hit paint, they want to hit the paint. We have to shift, we have to stay in front of the ball and we need somebody to guard the dribble drive. They were going past us almost every single play with zero resistance. We can’t just think about getting outscored. They had 64 points in the paint and shot 29% from the three. They didn’t shoot enough threes.” Brown said.

Portland has started to take that next step forward, even if they aren't going to fully contend this season. This year was all about growth and development and so far, they have looked the part.

Center Deandre Ayton led the way for Portland, scoring 26 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out two assists. Guard Anfernee Simons and forward Deni Avdija also chipped in 20 points each, with Simons scoring 21.

It was a total team effort to get the win and something that Portland can take to learn from going forward.

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