Blazers Dethrone Kings

SACRAMENTO -- Led by the 24 points of Lamarcus Aldridge and 21 by Brandon Roy, the Portland Trailblazers knocked off the Sacramento Kings 112-98, never trailing for the length of the Monday night preseason game.

The visiting Blazers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and stayed in front the whole way. Despite allowing the Kings to pull within one on with 3:15 left to go in the third quarter on a Williams bucket, the Blazers remained calm and regained their comfortable lead on layups from Roy, Joel Pryzbilla, and Travis Outlaw. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish duo of Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez connected for an alley-oop that left the home team groaning.

In a losing effort, Keven Martin tallied 34 points and John Salmons added 27, making the Blazers defense look vulnerable at times.

For the Blazers, the game marked the return of two injured players. Both Steve Blake and Channing Frye returned to play 27 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively. Greg Oden continued his solid play after having knee surgery last year, contributing 13 points and 9 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

The Kings, now 1-2 at home and 1-6 overall in the preseason, look to bounce back Thursday night with a home game against Houston.

The Blazers (3-2) will continue their road trip with a Wednesday game against the Clippers and then head to Utah to face the Jazz on Thursday.

The Kings were without Beno Udriah and Francisco Garcia, both due to injury.

Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images