Trail Blazers at Kings
The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a disappointing start and look to reverse course on Friday when they visit the Sacramento Kings in the opener of a four-game road swing. Portland dropped a 108-100 decision to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday to end an 18-game winning streak in home openers, the longest such run in NBA history.
Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard recorded 32 points and eight assists in the opener but the club was just 7-of-28 from 3-point range while Denver knocked down 18-of-32 attempts. "We've got to be able to defend the 3 better," Portland coach Terry Stotts said afterward. "It was a concern in the preseason and it is tonight." Luke Walton's coaching debut with Sacramento resulted in a severe pummeling as the Phoenix Suns delivered a 124-95 whipping on Wednesday and shooting guard Buddy Hield (left ankle) and point guard De'Aaron Fox (left ankle) suffered late-game injuries with Fox probable and Hield questionable for Friday. "My ankle is sore but I'm still going to play regardless," Hield told reporters after Wednesday's loss. "I feel like I could have gone back in. Ankle's a little sore but I'm going to hoop, man. It's what I do."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (0-1): Hassan Whiteside is the starting center with Jusuf Nurkic still recovering from last season's horrific broken leg and he fared well in his Portland debut with 16 points and 19 rebounds, and he greatly impressed Lillard. "I loved what he did, that's what we all have in mind when he came here," Lillard told reporters afterward. "I've never seen anybody guard (Denver star Nikola) Jokic by themselves that well so consistently. ... What he was doing was very impressive. I told him that's the type of impact we're going to need from him every night." Shooting guard CJ McCollum struggled in the opener by committing five turnovers and going 5-of-18 from the field while scoring 12 points.
ABOUT THE KINGS (0-1): Sacramento envisions being an improved team but it was hard to tell in the opener as it committed 27 turnovers leading to 35 Phoenix points and was manhandled by the lowly Suns. The Kings were outscored 70-36 in the second half and Hield was one of the few bright spots by making six 3-pointers and scoring 28 points, but 22 of them came in the first half of what all agreed was a subpar opening effort. "I hate losing but we have 81 more (games)," power forward Marvin Bagley III said afterward. "We have to keep going and keep fighting. It's one game. Move on."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won five of the past six meetings.
2. G-SF Kent Bazemore had five steals in his Portland debut but scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting in 25 minutes.
3. Bagley suffered a broken right thumb in the opener and will miss four-to-six weeks.