The Sacramento Kings finally got on the board for the season on Monday, knocking off the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center, 111-98. Sacramento improved to a 1-2 record on the season, while Portland dropped to 1-3.

Here are our takeaways from the loss in Portland as the club tries to punch its ticket into the 2025 NBA Draft lottery for the fourth straight under head coach Chauncey Billups.

Sacramento, like the Indiana Pacers, is one of the fastest clubs in the league. Part of the thinking behind head coach Mike Brown’s ethos is that the club doesn’t have a ton of defense, which is why the Kings want to overwhelm opposing teams with offense. Tonight it finally worked. The game was actually pretty tight coming out of the break. Sacramento was ahead by single digits, 51-43.

And that’s when the Kings went to work, outscoring the Trail Blazers 38-28 in the third quarter to create major separation. Sacramento has embraced its quick-scoring method. Despite now boasting four players who thrive with the rock in hand — All-Star small forward DeMar DeRozan joins All-Star scoring De’Aaron Fox and All-Star center Domantas Sabonis along with perennial Sixth Man of the Year contender , Malik Monk. — The Kings used an even-handed, pass-happy approach, distributing the ball for plenty of hockey assists.

Despite moving at such a fast clip, the Kings put on an elite shooting clinic, connecting on 37-of-81 shots from the field (45.7 percent), including 14-of-35 from the 3-point line points (40 percent). , along with 23-of-25 shooting from the charity stripe (92 percent). Sacramento also enjoyed a 25-16 assist advantage and a 9-4 break point advantage.

Fox, Sacramento’s leading scorer, scored much of his offense from inside the post, with pull-ups and mid-range drives serving as a big part of his 9-for-20 shooting night. He also drew some contact inside (though not as much as DeRozan or Sabonis), shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line. The 6-foot-3 Kentucky product also pulled down six rebounds, dished out three dimes and had a pair of steals for good measure.

Starting with Portland guard Anfernee Simons and his backup, the No. 3 in the 2023 draft, Scoot Henderson, they could do virtually nothing to contain him.

Ayton has become the Zach LaVine of NBA centers, from the Phoenix Suns. Like the Bulls All-Star point guard, Ayton is an overpaid trade chip that excels at putting up “empty calorie” stats that do nothing to encourage his team to win. Specifically, the 6-foot-11 Arizona product scored a Blazers-high 20 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field (but never got to the foul line), grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out an assist. But he often left his offloads on the defensive end, seemingly indifferent to the opposition’s possession, whether while directly defending Sabonis or a guard like Fox off a switch.

The Trail Blazers shot 4-of-22 (18 percent) from long range. No one made more than a triple, with the least effective high-volume offenders being Simons (1-of-7 from long range) and freshman wing Deni Avdija (0-of-4).

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