Lillard leads Blazers past Kings
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Damian Lillard tallied 22 points and nine assists in the Portland Trail Blazers' 103-86 rout of the Sacramento Kings.
Wesley Matthews had 18 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 and J.J. Hickson recorded 10 points and 13 rebounds for Portland, which snapped its four-game losing streak.
Nicolas Batum registered 15 points and seven boards in the win.
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James Johnson netted 16 points to lead the Kings, who have lost three straight contests.
Thomas Robinson, returning from a two-game suspension for an elbow to Jonas Jerebko against the Detroit Pistons last Wednesday, donated 12 points in defeat.
Two Jason Thompson free throws pulled the home team within 57-56 midway through the third, but Portland ended the frame on a 17-2 run to seize control of the contest.
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Batum had seven points, while Lillard added a pair of 3-pointers during the surge as the visitors took a 74-58 advantage into the fourth.
Portland led by as many as 24 points in the final frame.
Lillard had eight points as the Blazers took a 25-18 lead after a quarter of play, but Robinson and Jimmer Fredette tallied eight points apiece in the second and the Kings cut the deficit to 46-42 at the break.
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Game Notes
Sacramento, which came in as the worst shooting team in the NBA was 46.8 percent (36-of-77) from the field ... The Kings were just 9.1 percent (1- of-11) from beyond the arc ... Portland outrebounded Sacramento, 44-33.