SACRAMENTO -- It’s the Kings’ formula for success. Fall behind early. Take a lead late.
It didn’t work out as planned Tuesday evening at Golden 1 Center in a 113-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Sacramento trailed by 14 going into halftime, and couldn’t get out of their own way. All seemed lost until the bench mob turned the tide.
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Sacramento rallied to take a nine-point fourth-quarter lead, but Portand didn’t go away. The Kings failed to knock down the game-winner on the final possession, and then fell apart in the overtime session.
The Blazers showed their experience late and received huge performances from Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic to come away with the win.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings dropped a tough one at home to drop to 19-18 on the season.
Buddy the Bomber
NBA
Buddy Hield’s cold streak is over. The third-year pro lit the Blazers up in the first half, burying his first five 3-pointers to finish with 19 going to the break.
He didn’t get a lot of looks in the second half, but still finished with a team-high 27 points on 11-for-23 shooting -- including those five makes from long range.
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The Heater
Bogdan Bogdanovic couldn’t buy a bucket early, missing his first eight shots and going scoreless until the final moments of the third quarter. Then, he woke up.
The Kings’ sixth man caught fire in the fourth quarter, torching the Blazers for 11 points in the period. He added five in the overtime session to finish with 19 points on the evening.
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Who is this Harry Giles kid?
After spending plenty of time on the bench and even making a few stops in the G League with the Stockton Kings, rookie big man Harry Giles got a shot on Sunday and he made an impact.
The 20-year-old big gobbled up five quick rebounds in the third quarter, hit the Blazers with a crazy spin move for a dunk and knocked down a jumper to end the period.
He started the fourth quarter and found more success. He set screens, attacked the glass and even played some defense. In 13 minutes, he stuffed the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, a steal and block. He also ran a plus-13 in the plus/minus category.
It was the big night Giles needed to get some confidence.