The Portland Trail Blazers took down the Sacramento Kings 124-123 to earn their first win of the 2025-26 NBA Preseason. After maintaining a lead for most of the second half, the Blazers allowed the Kings to fight
back into the game late. However, unlike their loss to the Golden State Warriors two nights ago, Portland was able to hold on for the win this time.
Box Score
The starting lineup for this contest was Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan for the Blazers. However, Camara was held out of the second half of the game due to knee soreness according to Head Coach Chauncey Billups, Blazers Edge’s Conor Bergin reported.
Of course, this is still preseason, and the win means less than the contents of the game itself, so here are some observations on how this game went:
Starting Guards Jumpstart Offense
Sharpe and Holiday were given the start tonight at the guard spots, and their play helped Portland jump out to an early advantage in the first quarter. The pair combined for 17 of the Blazers’ 37 first quarter points, with 10 coming from Holiday and seven for Sharpe.
The strong offensive start for Portland helped set the tone for the game and kept the Blazers in the driver’s seat for large parts of the first half. Jerami Grant also provided an offensive spark off the bench. He ended the game with 18 points, most of which came early in the contest. However, Grant was unable to find his stroke from deep and missed all five of his attempts.
Hansen Flashes with Highlights
Blazers rookie Yang Hansen finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and an assist in just 17 minutes on the court. He did a lot of his work in the third quarter, including a stretch of highlight plays. He had a nice assist on a Sharpe dunk, a nice midrange jumpshot, and a block in the final four minutes of the third, as well as this sick behind-the-back move into a layup:
Hansen has showed real flashes of his unique skillset in his time on the court, and this game was one of the most complete games he has put together throughout his NBA Summer League and preseason appearances.
Love Prevents Another Collapse
Caleb Love got the opportunity to play the hero down the stretch, and he delivered. As Portland stared down a second straight late collapse to begin their preseason, Love scored the last nine points for the Blazers to eke out the one point win. He was not perfect, missing three of his final four free throws, but he did enough to secure the win with a last second free throw.
Dominant On The Glass
Portland outrebounded the Kings 64-48 in the game, a massive margin for a game this close. The Blazers were also on the right end of a 20-12 advantage on the offensive boards. Those extra opportunities translated into 23 second chance points, compared to 16 from Sacramento.
Portland’s abilities on both the offensive and defensive glass helped lead them to a win in this game despite shooting just 27% from behind the arc and making only 70% of their free throws.
Fouls, Fouls, And More Fouls
There were 64 fouls between the two teams. That absurd number led to 73 total free throws being shot, 40 for Portland and 33 for Sacramento. It was difficult for the game to have any real rhythm with the amount of fouls early and led to a game that felt oddly paced.
Up Next
The Blazers will have a preseason rematch with the Golden State Warriors at home on Tue. Oct. 14 at 7pm Pacific.
