Buzzer Beater: Big night by Richaun Holmes not enough in Kings’ loss to Trail Blazers
The Kings haven’t enjoyed much success in the Pacific Northwest in recent years. The frustration continued in a 127-116 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at Moda Center.
The Kings (8-12) were playing without guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who joined point guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III on the injured list. Bogdanovic was held out with a right knee contusion, but his left hamstring injury was improving, the team said. He is listed as day-to-day.
C.J. McCollum scored 33 points, Hassan Whiteside turned in a monster performance and Carmelo Anthony had another big game for the Blazers (9-13). Damian Lillard had 24 points and 10 assists. Whiteside put up 22 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Anthony finished with 20 points.
Richaun Holmes had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost 12 in a row in Portland since posting their last win there on Dec. 8, 2012. Buddy Hield scored 23 points. Nemanja Bjelica had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Kings caught the Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back following their loss to the Clippers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The Blazers were 0-4 in back-to-back situations going into the game, but they came out energized for this one.
The Kings went up by as many as eight on a couple of occasions in the first and second quarters, but the Blazers led 66-64 at the break after shooting 59.6 percent in the opening half. The Kings couldn’t stop McCollum, who had 23 points in the half, but they hit 10 of 21 from 3-point range to stay in the game.
The Kings kept it close until the fourth quarter when the Blazers staged an 8-0 run to go up 116-105. The Kings got within seven with 2:57 remaining, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Hield’s struggles continue
Hield hasn’t shot the ball well since spraining the middle finger on his right hand a couple of weeks ago. He played without his fingers taped Wednesday, but it didn’t help.
Hield got it going during one stretch in the first half, making 5 of 6 after going 1 of 7 to start the game, but he finished 8 of 24 from the field and 3 of 12 from 3-point range. Hield scored a career-high 41 points and made a team-record 11 3-pointers against the Boston Celtics on Nov. 17, but he has otherwise struggled over the past seven games, making 52 of 137 (.380) field-goal attempts and 25 of 80 (.313) from beyond the arc.
Carmelo finds a home in Portland
Anthony is fitting in well in Portland so far after a year away from the game. He scored in double figures in his first six games for the Blazers – including a 25-point game against the Chicago Bulls – before being held to nine points on 2-of-9 shooting in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
Anthony spent 16 seasons with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Houston Rockets waived him 10 games into the 2018-19 season. He was averaging a career-low 13.4 points per game on 40.5-percent shooting from the field and 32.8-percent shooting from 3-point range.
Anthony seems to be turning back the clock in Portland, where he averaged 16.4 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 44 percent overall and 37 percent from 3-point range in his first seven games with the Blazers. He hasn’t shot over 35.9 percent from long distance since 2013-14.
Kyle Guy awaiting NBA debut
Rookie guard Kyle Guy accompanied the team to Portland to start the road trip, but he did not play against the Blazers and has yet to make his NBA debut.
The Kings signed Guy to a two-way contract after selecting him with the 55th pick in June’s NBA Draft, meaning he can be on the Sacramento roster for 45 days this season. Guy has averaged 26.6 points, 5.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds in nine games for Sacramento’s G League affiliate in Stockton. He had 42 points in a win over the Iowa Wolves on Saturday and ranks second in the G League in scoring. He is shooting 37.4 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range.
Road trip
The Kings will continue on to Texas for the remainder of this four-game road trip. They will visit the San Antonio Spurs (8-14) on Friday, the Dallas Mavericks (15-6) on Sunday and the Houston Rockets (13-7) on Monday.
Kings upcoming schedule
Dec. 6 at San Antonio Spurs, 5:30 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Dallas Mavericks, 4 p.m.
Dec. 9 at Houston Rockets, 5 p.m.
Dec. 11 vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Dec. 13 vs. New York Knicks, 7 p.m.
Injury report
Kings: OUT – Marvin Bagley III (thumb), De’Aaron Fox (ankle), Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee).
Trail Blazers: OUT – Zach Collins (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic (leg), Gary Trent Jr. (hamstring).
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 9:27 PM.
