Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers 10/11/21 - NBA Picks & Predictions

In Monday night NBA preseason action, the Sacramento Kings will travel to the Moda Center to take on the Portland Trail Blazers. The Kings finished ten games below .500 last season and ranked last in the league in defensive efficiency. On Wednesday, Sacramento outscored the LA Clippers by 21 points during the third quarter of a 113-98 road victory.

De’Aaron Fox led five Sacramento players in double figures with 23 points and four assists in 22 minutes. Terence Davis added 15 points in 14 minutes off the bench for the Kings.

The Portland Trail Blazers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Denver and hired Chauncey Billups to be their new head coach. Billups’ first order of business will be improving a defense that finished second worst in defensive efficiency. In their preseason opener, Portland was outscored by 15 points during the third quarter of a 121-107 home loss versus Golden State.

All-Star G Damian Lillard tallied a team-high 19 points and four rebounds in just 18 minutes of playing time. Jusuf Nurkic added 15 points and ten rebounds in a losing effort for the Trail Blazers.