The Portland Trail Blazers came out of the All-Star break playing terribly. Even with their new addition of Arron Afflalo and a healthy roster, minus LaMarcus Aldridge for a game, they lost to Utah and Memphis in an embarrassing fashion. But the last two games have ended in victories, both against top Western teams.

To start off the month of March, Portland will match up against the Sacramento Kings, whom they’ve split the season series with. Sacramento is 3-7 in their last 10 games, and since the break, they’re 2-2 just like Portland.

The Kings are slowly crumbling, Rudy Gay has missed a lot of time here and there with minor injuries, and now Darren Collison has a hurt hip and could miss the rest of the season. He had been key in their early wins this year, replacing Isaiah Thomas’s role perfectly.

Portland is performing very well as of late, and the big win over San Antonio really showed that. If they can continue playing as so, the Blazers shouldn’t have much of a problem beating the depleted Kings.

The main player to focus on is DeMarcus Cousins. Gay is a great scorer, but Nicolas Batum’s defense has been strong against opponents like Gordon Hayward and Kawhi Leonard. LaMarcus Aldridge is likely to play tonight, so he’s going to end up guarding Cousins. However, he is doubtful for the game due to nagging hip and ankle injuries.

In the first two games of the season when they faced each other, Cousins scored an average of 19 points. While that’s not too bad of a number, he also grabbed 19 rebounds in one of those games. In order to limit second chance opportunities, Aldridge and other Blazer big men must box out on every Sacramento shot. If he doesn’t end up playing, all Portland needs to do is score a lot on the weak Kings defense and keep Rudy Gay under 30.

On the offensive end, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews should be the top scorers. The Kings’ guards are pretty weak compared to Portland’s. Last game, their starting guards were Ray McCallum and Ben McLemore, neither of which have very much experience in the league. Portland’s heavy use of screens on offense should be enough to confuse them and get our sharpshooters open beyond the arc.

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About the author
Newtons Fourth Law
Portland Trail Blazers writer.