The reeling Sacramento Kings will attempt to halt a five- game losing streak when they entertain a Portland Trail Blazers club trying to figure out how to get it done away from Rip City.
The Kings were competitive in their last outing on Tuesday but came up short when Brandon Rush poured in 20 points off the bench, including 15 in the fourth quarter, as Golden State held off Sacramento late for a 93-90 victory at ORACLE Arena.
Tyreke Evans just missed a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists and DeMarcus Cousins added his sixth double-double in seven games scoring 21 points and pulling down 14 boards.
Jason Thompson also contributed a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards for the Kings, who are now a dismal 2-11 on the road. Sacramento is a more competitive 4-4 at Power Balance Pavilion.
"From an offensive standpoint, we shot a good percentage tonight for our team," said Kings coach Keith Smart. "It's a positive for us, overall, and unfortunate we didn't get the win."
The Blazers, meanwhile, have been excellent at the Rose Garden, improving to 10-1 on their home floor Wednesday with a 112-68 rout of the hapless Charlotte Bobcats. The road, however, has been a different story and Portland will try to improve on its 3-8 mark as the visitor tonight.
Jamal Crawford scored 24 points while ex-Bobcat Gerald Wallace netted 23 points against his former team last night.
"My teammates did a good job finding me," Crawford said. "It's never just the guy making the shots."
LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points while Marcus Camby blocked five shots for the Blazers, who shot a gaudy 55 percent from the floor vs. Charlotte's 32.1 percent. Raymond Felton also had 11 points and dished seven assists.
"The defense was really good all night," Portland head coach Nate McMillan told the team's website.
On the injury front for the Blazers forward Nicolas Batum is expected to miss his second straight game with a bone bruise on his left knee.
Portland, which will be attempting to halt a three-game road losing streak tonight, has taken five straight against the Kings in Sacramento and 11 of 12 overall in the series.