The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 134-133 in overtime on Thursday night, the first game of a doubleheader with Sacramento. Portland barely, and I mean barely, survived a late game miracle comeback from the Kings to squeak out the win.
The Blazers were led in scoring by Deni Avdija’s 35 points. Shaedon Sharpe came in second with 26.
Sacramento got 33 points from DeMar DeRozan, including a three-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime. DeRozan scored 14 of his points in overtime to push Portland to their absolute limit, but ultimately fell short of the win.
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
What Did We Just Watch?
There’s winning ugly, then there’s whatever this game was. I genuinely challenge want to know if someone in the comments can find me an uglier win than this one because just… wow.
Portland led 113-98 with 1:53 left to play in regulation. What followed was an absolutely disgusting display of attempting to hold onto the lead. Analytics say fouling while up by at least three points late in the game is a sound strategy to hold onto a lead. However, what those analytics fail to account for is the Blazers making just two of their six attempts from the line in the final 30 seconds of the game.
But don’t worry! Donovan Clingan is at the free throw line with 33 seconds left in overtime and a 131-126 lead. At least Portland has a chance to right their wrongs and secure the win here. Well actually, he makes just one of four from that trip and a subsequent one being intentionally fouled. Oh, and DeRozan hits a turnaround jumper with four seconds left to take the lead 133-132.
Deni Avdija bulldozing his way into a Russell Westbrook shooting foul with a second left in the game — and making his two free throws — saved Portland from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Putting The Ball In The Basket
The game started off very well for the Blazers. They shot 7-14 from three in the first quarter on their way to a 36-point first frame. They allowed 40 points to the Kings, but they seemed to have some offensive magic left after their last game, a victory over the Golden State Warriors.
That all went downhill quickly. Portland made just 8 of their 31 attempts from deep for the rest of the game. They also made just 21 of 33 from the free throw line in the game, 64% shooting. The saving grace for the Blazers was a strong presence on the offensive glass. 17 offensive rebounds led to 25 second-chance points. Those chances at easy baskets helped them weather the storm of terrible shooting from everywhere except the paint.
Center Battle
I don’t know that anyone expected the Donovan Clingan-Maxime Raynaud duel to be a highlight of the night, but the pair of bigs put on a show. Clingan finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists on the game, including 5 offensive rebounds. He shot a dismal 5-13 from the free throw line, but everywhere else he looked very good.
Raynaud, on the other hand, was amazing. He finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Both were career-highs for the rookie. He was often the biggest problem for Portland to deal with when the Kings were on offense.
Deni Avdija
Deni Avdija showed that he’s pretty dang good at basketball again in this game. He scored 35 points and added 5 rebounds and 5 assists on the day. He did so on 12-19 shooting from the field and 10-12 from the foul line, including the pair of game winning free throws in overtime.
Avdija’s ability to run the offense for Portland has proven to be a major driving force for the Blazers’ success. He did have 5 turnovers and a costly free throw miss late in regulation, but even with the imperfections Avdija was the main reason that Portland came away with the win.
Shaedon Sharpe Gets It Going Early
Sharpe came out of the gates firing. He scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting from the floor and 3-4 from deep in the first quarter alone. His shot making was on full display as he hit step-backs and finished through contact with ease. He helped the Blazers keep pace with a red hot Sacramento start.
Sharpe cooled off significantly as the game wore on, but he still finished with a very respectable 26-point, 4-rebound, 4-assist night.
Jerami Grant’s Overtime Heroics
Jerami Grant had a pretty bad game through four quarters. He was 4-15 from the floor and 2-9 from behind the arc. However, in the overtime period he made all three of his shots for 7 points . That helped Portland build a slight cushion. Obviously, the Blazers blew that lead later, but this game may have been a loss if not for timely shot making from Grant to give Portland room to work with.
These two teams meet again on Saturday at 7:00 PST, this time in Sacramento.