NBA Game of the Week: Kings vs Trail Blazers

Kings vs Trail Blazers: The NBA game of the week is the final NBA game until after the all-star break which is the Sacramento Kings travelling to Portland to take on the Portland Trailblazers Thursday night 3/4 at 10 pm EST.

The TrailBlazers are coming off of a huge win last night against the Golden State Warriors where star point guards Steph Curry and Damian Lillard put on a show. Lillard ended with 22 points including the Trailblazers last eight points of the game to help secure the victory 108-106. Steph Curry had 35 points and hit five three pointers in last night’s close loss.

The Trailblazers have had a better season than most expected after the midfoot fracture to CJ McCollum in mid January, they are the current 5th seed in the wetsern conference with an overall record of 20-14.

With their win against the Warriors and the Mavericks winning against the Thunder, that knocked Golden State out of playoff contention heading into the all-star break. The Blazers had just broken a four game losing skid in last night’s win over the Warriors.

The Kings on the other hand have had the same season for the past ten years since the Chris Webber and Mike Bibby days. The Kings currently sit at 12th in the western conference with an overall record of 14-21.

The only thing they’re missing is veteran leadership, they have the young untapped talent they just need to harness it. Players like Richuan Holmes and Tyrese Haliburton are great cornerstones for their future but it hasn’t translated into immediate production. The Kings have won two of their last five games including beating the Lakers.

This game will feature two underrated shooting players in this league with Carmelo Anthony for the Blazers and Tyrese Haliburton for the Kings.

Carmelo Anthony is in his 17th season and looks to have found a home in Portland. He is averaging 14 points and 4 rebounds a game while shooting 40 % from the field and 39 % from three point land this season in just 25 minutes a game.

Haliburton, who is a rookie drafted 12th overall, is having a great rookie year for a non lottery pick averaging 13 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds per game while shooting just under 50% from the field with 49.7 % and 43% from three point land on the season all in just 30 minutes of play. Both of these guys are capable of taking over games when they need to.

Damian Lillard has been overshadowed by the many star western conference players when it comes to the MVP voting. Players like Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry all have won MVP’s since Dame entered the league.

This year he is finally distancing himself from all of those guys except Steph Curry, who he just beat in a thrilling game on Wednesday night, because both guys are in similar situations because both players lost their second hand man for extended periods of time.

The only difference being that Damian will get McCollum back before the end of the season, Klay Thompson will miss the entirety of the 2020-21 season.

Catch this game on Thursday March 4th at 10 pm EST/ 7 pm PST on NBA League Pass or your local NBC Sports station, for the last bit of NBA action until Wednesday March 10th because of the All-star break.