The Portland Trail Blazers sacked the Sacramento Kings 122-110 on Sunday evening, nailing down a 42-40 record for the season and the 8th seed in the 2026 NBA Play-in Tournament. Deni Avdija was the top scorer for the Blazers with 25 points, Precious Achiuwa paced the Kings with 27.
Player of the Game
All of the starters for the Blazers finished in double figures, but for me the player of the game was Kris Murray. Kris doesn’t make a lot of noise when he’s on the court, but he frequently leaves a mark. He played 30 very
efficient minutes in this one, helping the cause in every way imaginable. He scored 9 points on 3 for 4 shooting (2 for 2 from three) with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. This added up to a plus 27 in the plus-minus stat.
Stat of the Night
Turnovers have been kryptonite for the Blazers this year, but they turned in the right direction tonight. The count in that category was 12-16 in favor of the Blazers, including 9 steals.
What We Noticed
Both teams scored 33 points in the first quarter, but only the Blazers could keep it up for the rest of the half. The score was 77-57 at the half, thanks to opportunistic defense (6 steals) and efficient offense (20 assists).
Unfortunately, the Kings woke up at the start of the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 7 points by the time the Blazers called time at 6:43. It was back to 12 by the end of the quarter, but it definitely goes down as a missed opportunity to put the game away. The end result was eventually achieved, so on to the Play-In we go!
Up Next
The Blazers are heading for Phoenix Tuesday to play the Phoenix Suns. At stake is the 7th seed in the NBA Playoffs. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
