Trail Blazers 98, Kings 94
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- Guard C.J. McCollum scored 35 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers used a late surge to defeat the Sacramento Kings 98-94 at Sleep Train Arena on Sunday night.
McCollum, playing with usual backcourt mate Damian Lillard sidelined for the fourth straight game with inflammation in his left plantar fascia, canned 13 of 27 shots to help the Blazers (13-20) to their second win in as many nights. He came up with a loose ball and converted a jumper for a 93-87 lead, then canned a wing jumper with 31 seconds made it 95-89.
Kings center DeMarcus Cousins finished with 36 points and six rebounds. His second 3-pointer of the contest cut Portland's lead to 95-92 with 24 seconds left. But after McCollum knocked in one of two free throws, Cousins missed a 3-pointer to end it.
Sacramento could point to 23 turnovers for its first loss in its past five contests in its home arena. The Blazers outscored the Kings 28-21 off turnovers.
Kings coach George Karl remained one victory behind Phil Jackson for fifth on the all-time list. Karl's 1,154 career victories are the most among active coaches.
Forward Maurice Harkless scored 13 points, and forward Meyers Leonard added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, which lost five straight before beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Forward Omri Casspi added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, the 13th time in 14 games that he's scored at least 10 points. Casspi also canned 3 of 4 from 3-point range, lifting his percentage to 45.7 percent, the fifth-best mark in the NBA.
Guard Darren Collison scored 10 points, and NBA assists leader Rajon Rondo had 15 to go with nine points. Rondo also had eight turnovers for the Kings.
The Blazers tied the game entering the final period, when guard Gerald Henderson blocked Collison's layup, and McCollum turned into an old-fashioned three-point play on the other end by making a short jumper as he was fouled.
Harkless' driving dunk erased Sacramento's 84-83 advantage with 9:08 left, and the Blazers never trailed again.
NOTES: Portland coach Terry Stotts became the sixth coach in Portland history to record 150 victories when the Blazers beat Cleveland on Saturday. He joined Jack Ramsay (453), Rick Adelman (291), Nate McMillan (266), Mike Dunleavy (190) and Maurice Cheeks (162). ... Kings PG Darren Collison averaged 15.8 points and made 25 of 42 shots (59.5 percent) on Sacramento's four-game road trip. Before Sunday's game, he'd scored in double-digits in 13 of his past 14 contests. ... Portland C Ed Davis, the NBA's leader in offensive rebounds off the bench, sat out with a sprained left ankle. Davis was injured when he stepped on the foot of Cleveland C Anderson Varejao early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. ... Kings F Omri Casspi started his 10th straight game since C Willie Cauley-Stein was lost with a broken right index finger and was averaging 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in that span.