Final Score: Kings Blaze by Portland, 108 to 96

Sacramento beat Portland 108 to 96 Sunday night, their second victory over the Blazers this year, thanks to a strong team effort. Sacramento finished with a season-high 31 assists and shot a remarkable 55.6% from the field. This was despite missing DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Francisco Garcia.

Sacramento was led in scoring by Marcus Thornton's 22 points, but five other Kings also finished in double digits. Only Tyler Honeycutt, who made his sophomore season debut during garbage time, did not score.

The Kings fell behind to the Blazers by ten points early on before going on a big run themselves, which carried over into a huge second quarter that really made the difference in the game. The Kings outscored Portland 28 to 15 in the second quarter. Former Blazer Travis Outlaw had another huge game against his old team, leading the Kings in scoring going into halftime and finishing with 15 points on 6-7 shooting in 16 minutes.

Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridge's 22 points and 11 rebounds, but saw good contributions from their other starters as well. Nicolas Batum had 17 points and 8 assists and J.J. Hickson added a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double. Rookie Damian Lillard finished with 15 points and 7 assists.

Portland didn't get much help from its bench though, which scored just 26 points compared to 43 for Sacramento's. They did manage to use their size advantage though, outrebounding the Kings 41 to 37, 15 of those being offensive boards.

These teams will meet again on Wednesday in Portland this time for their final match of the season. It's unknown whether DeMarcus Cousins or Tyreke Evans will be available to play, but if the Kings continue to play like a team on both ends of the court, they'll have a chance.

Full recap up later. For now dance!

For the opponent's perspective, visit Blazer's Edge