PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers were riding a season-high, five-game winning streak before they lost to the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday.
When the teams met again Wednesday night at the Rose Garden, the Blazers could do no wrong and the Kings could do very little right. Portland played stellar on offense, solid on defense and walked off the Rose Garden court with a 109-91 victory.
“It was a solid win for us,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “We tightened up our defense in the second and third quarters and made our runs because of our defense. We got energy into the game.”
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points and pulled in 12 rebounds to lead the Blazers (14-13), while teammate J.J. Hickson finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Hickson extended his streak of double-doubles to nine consecutive games — the longest run by a Portland player since before Mychal Thompson recorded eight in a row in 1981.
“It’s a good individual stat,” Hickson said. “But, I’m looking at the bigger picture with the team. I’m just playing hard. I’m just a piece of the puzzle doing my job.”
Nicolas Batum added 18 points for the Blazers, Damian Lillard had 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Will Barton scored 14 points off the bench.
The Blazers moved the ball well throughout the night, finishing the game with 31 assists.
“I’m happy with it,” Lillard said, of the 31 assists. “We were moving the ball really well and that just shows how much more we trust each other now, making plays for each other and guys having enough confidence to make shots.”
The short-handed Kings (9-19) were led by John Salmons’ 19 points. Isaiah Thomas scored 12 points off the bench, and Jason Thompson added 11 points.
Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins, reinstated from his team suspension Monday, did not make the trip to Portland. He was suspended from the Kings for their 108-96 win over the Blazers on Sunday following a halftime altercation with coach Keith Smart in Sacramento’s previous game. Wednesday’s absence was listed as the coach’s decision.
The absence of Cousins allowed Portland to control the glass and the paint. The Blazers out-rebounded the Kings 53-35 and scored 50 points in the paint to the Kings’ 36 points.
“He’s a good shot blocker,” Aldridge said, of Cousins. “He protects the rim well, so guys went to the basket more with him being out tonight.”
Kings guard Tyreke Evans didn’t play because of a sore left knee. He sat out for the 10th time in 14 games.
Both offenses came out hot in the first quarter as Portland pulled out to a 31-26 lead. The Blazers connected on 13 of 23 attempts (.565) and the Kings shot 11 of 21 (.524).
In the second quarter, the Blazers continued shooting effectively while stepping up their defense and containing the Kings. The Blazers put a punctuation mark on the first half when Batum connected on a last second 3-pointer from the right side of the arc that gave Portland a 62-44 lead.
“We had turnovers,” Thomas said, of the Kings falling apart in the second quarter. “They hit some open 3s, they had dunks, they got the crowd into it. They just got it going and it’s hard to stop a team that gets it going at home, especially when they have shooters and guys that can go to the hole and dunk, and things like that.”
Portland finished the half shooting .575 (23 of 40) while holding Sacramento to .414 success from the field (17 of 41).
Through two quarters, Batum and Aldridge led the Blazers with 13 points each. Hickson scored 11 in the first half, and Barton added 10.
Every active player on the Sacramento roster had at least two points by halftime, but besides Salmons’ 11 points, no one else on the Kings went into the break in double figures.
The Blazers were relentless in the third quarter, extending their lead to 91-67. The lead was wide enough that Portland’s reserves played a good portion of the fourth quarter.
The Blazers will play the Los Angeles Lakers on the road on Friday before returning home to play the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. The Kings have a home game Friday against the New York Knicks and another Sunday against the Boston Celtics.
“Our guys tried to do some decent things out on the floor, but (the Blazers) made some adjustments (from Sunday),” Smart said. “We’ll take our lumps here and try to put our team back together again.”
NOTES: The Blazers and Kings played each other for the third time since Dec. 8 and the fourth time this season. The season series ended 2-2. … Sacramento’s win over Portland on Sunday was only its second victory in eight games. … Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews sat out for the fourth time in seven games because of a strained left hip flexor. Matthews, who is averaging 15 points per game, injured the hip against the Kings on Dec. 8. … Kings reserve guard Jimmer Fredette entered play with an NBA-best .941 free-throw-shooting percentage. He made three of four foul shots Wednesday.