Tyrese leads Kings over Trail Blazers 121-106

Tyrese Haliburton and the Sacramento Kings made the necessary adjustments Sunday evening and came away with a solid 121-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers to close out their preseason set at the Moda Center.

Following a rather passive debut 48 hours earlier, the rookie guard provided Kings fans a glimpse of his potential by stuffing the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, seven assists, a steal, a block, and no turnovers in 30 minutes of action. He also led the squad with a +20 +/-.

The Iowa State standout looked more comfortable tonight as he guided the 2nd and 3rd units, made smart passes and a great backcourt steal and dunk to close out the third quarter. He did not look at all like a kid playing in just his second NBA contest.

The rest of the team was equally solid. They came out of the gate in attack mode and pushed the pace and was aggressive on defense. Drives to the paint for layups or kickouts for open three-pointers was the consistent theme all night.

They finished with 27 assists and just 12 turnovers.

Portland’s offense was shut down for most of the game as they were held to just 40 percent from the field. Damian Lillard did not make a field goal in 13 minutes before being pulled from the game for rest.

Richaun Holmes and Kyle Guy led Sacramento with 14 points each, while De’Aaron Fox finished with 13 points and four assists

Notes

In addition to Marvin Bagley and Hassan Whiteside remaining in Sacramento during this road trip, Cory Joseph, Jabari Parker, and DaQuan Jeffries all sat out due to back soreness.

The Kings return home to wrap up the preseason with two contests against the Golden State Warriors at the Golden 1 Center starting on Tuesday night.

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