Zach LaVine scored 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting to help the Sacramento Kings break a four-game losing streak with a solid 128-107 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Domantas Sabonis recorded 22 points, 19 rebounds and six assists and DeMar DeRozan had 21 points and 10 assists for the Kings (36-37), who shot a season-best 64.9 percent from the field. Keegan Murray added 17 points and seven rebounds and Malik Monk scored 16 points for Sacramento.
The Kings moved into ninth place in the Western Conference and are a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and one game in front of the Phoenix Suns in the battle for the final two play-in berths.
Deni Avdija registered 24 points and nine rebounds and Shaedon Sharpe added 22 points and seven rebounds for Portland (32-42), which clinched a losing season. Anfernee Simons scored 20 points and Duop Reath had 17 off the bench.
The loss was the third straight for the Trail Blazers, who are drifting out of the play-in race and sit four games behind the 10th-place Mavericks.
The Kings held a 46-32 rebounding advantage and made 10 of 27 from 3-point range. Keon Ellis added 10 points for Sacramento.
Portland connected on 39.8 percent of its attempts and 16 of 50 from behind the arc.
Sacramento held an 18-point halftime lead before making 83.3 percent of its shots (10 of 12) in the third quarter.
A basket by Sabonis gave the Kings a 76-55 lead with 9:08 left in the third quarter.
Portland moved within 15 with four-plus minutes left in the quarter. However, Sabonis pushed the lead back to 21 with a basket with 1:21 remaining.
Sacramento led 100-82 entering the final stanza and the lead increased to 23 on LaVine’s basket with 8:44 left. The Trail Blazers never made a charge in the opener of a five-game road trip.
LaVine had 20 points as Sacramento led 68-50 at the break. Avdija had 17 points in the half for the Trail Blazers.
The Kings led 36-27 after the opening quarter and then scored nine of the first 11 in the second to open up a 16-point advantage.
DeRozan later scored the final five points of the half as Sacramento held the 18-point lead.
