The Sacramento Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98

The Portland Trail Blazers played a competitive first half against the Sacramento Kings, but were unable to sustain that performance and lost 111-98. Poor shooting from behind the arc and strong performances from the Kings' stars were too much for the Blazers to overcome in defeat.

Blazer of the Game: Deandre Ayton. Ayton led the Blazers with 20 points in shooting from the field on 10/17. to. He also added 11 rebounds, securing his fourth double-double in as many games to start the season. His court presence helped other Blazers find space to work in the midfield, and he was able to score easy baskets near the rim with consistency.

Stats of the night: 14 minutes before a Blazer 3-pointer. After starting the game 0-9 from deep, Portland finally made its first three-pointer of the game on a catch-and-shoot opportunity from Scoot Henderson. The Blazers didn't get their second goal until two minutes into the second half and finished the game just 4/22. The Kings made 14 of 35.

What we will remember:

Aggressiveness towards the paint. The Blazers caused a multitude of fouls on drives to the basket. While this didn't translate into a free throw advantage, attacks from Henderson and Jerami Grant, among others, gave Portland easy points at the free throw line when other options weren't available.

Scoot plays a strong game again. Scoot finished the game with 18 points on 5/12 shooting. His influence on the pitch was felt not only in his scoring, but also in several other areas. His downhill presence was evident and he managed to finish at the rim, showing clear signs of improvement from last season. This pressure on the rim also led to him getting eight chances at the free throw line, seven of which he took advantage of. He also added four rebounds and five assists to his totals.

The Kings' star power is too great. DeMar Derozan, De'Aaron Fox and Domantis Sabonis proved to be too much for Portland to overcome. The trio combined for 63 points in the game and outsmarted everything the Blazers tried to slow down.

Key moment:

Henderson got the better of Keon Ellis on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, leading to two nice team finishes. On the first basket, Donovan Clingan rolled to the basket and Scoot provided a lob when needed, but Henderson was able to finish with a floater. The next time Scoot hit the floor, he swept past Ellis again, this time finishing with a layup through a little contact.

Box score

What's next? The Blazers have a day off before facing the Los Angeles Clippers on the road on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PST.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth analysis of the game coming soon.