The Kings beat the Blazers 121-82 in regular season finale to earn at least 1 more home game
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and the Sacramento Kings assured themselves of at least one more home game by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 121-82 in the teams’ regular-season finale on Sunday.
Sacramento will head into the play-in tournament on Tuesday night, hosting Golden State in the ninth versus 10th-place game in the Western Conference. The New Orleans Pelicans will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the No. 7 versus No. 8 matchup.
After snapping an NBA-record long 16-year playoff drought last season, the Kings were in good position to finish in the top six and return to the postseason this year before losing five of six games headed into the season finale. Now they must get in through the play-in tournament without key injured players Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter.
They cruised in the finale against a short-handed Blazers team playing out the string on a lost season. The Kings opened a 20-point lead in the second quarter and never were threatened.
Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 11 rebounds for his 77th double-double of the season, the most since Moses Malone also had 77 in 1978-79.
Dalano Banton led Portland with 17 points before getting ejected for a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter. Banton set a record for futility by missing all 15 of his attempts from 3-point range.
The Blazers were missing 10 players who accounted for more than three-quarters of the team’s points this season because of injuries.
The patchwork lineup provided little resistance for Sacramento as Portland missed 21 of its first 22 attempts from 3-point range and trailed 65-37 at the half. Portland shot 7 for 45 from 3-point distance for the game.
The Blazers finished the season tied for the third-worst record in the NBA with the 61 losses, tied for the second-most in franchise history behind only the 64 in 1971-72.
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