SACRAMENTO, Calif. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 96-85 Saturday night for their fourth win in five games.
Robin Lopez had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Nicolas Batum also scored 12 points to help the Blazers sweep the home-and-home series with the Kings. Portland also won at home, 104-91 on Friday.
DeMarcus Cousins had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Kings, who have lost five straight since beating Denver in the season-opener. Cousins had 35 points in Friday night’s game in Portland.
Ben McLemore scored 13 points and Isaiah Thomas had 12 points for the Kings, who were outrebounded 52-33.
Portland had a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter. However, Sacramento rallied as a three-point play by Cousins and a fastbreak layup by Jimmer Fredette cut the deficit to 85-77 with 4:29 remaining.
Batum ended a string of bad possessions by the Blazers, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to push the lead to 92-82.
Portland was able to win despite rare off night from point guard Damian Lillard. Last year’s rookie of the year had four points on 1-of-15 shooting.
Following a quiet first half, Matthews got going in the third quarter. He made two 3s and scored 12 points in helping the Portland outscore Sacramento 24-16 and take a 69-54 lead into the fourth.
The Kings missed numerous shots in the third when they shot 8 for 23 and were outscored 17-8 in the final five-plus minutes of the period.
Aldridge made an assortment of medium-range jumpers and had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first half for the Blazers, who led 45-38.
