The Portland Trail Blazers (42 - 37) defeated the Sacramento Kings (31 - 47) at Sleep Train Arena on Tuesday, 115 - 107. The Kings entered the contest winning four of their last six games, but narrowly fell to the Blazers, even with DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo in the lineup. The inconsistent Sacramento squad has been in the headlines over the past few weeks with Cousins being the center of attention after the strange strategy of sitting him during away games came up. Combine that with George Karl’s decision to rest most of his team without having a shot at the Western Conference playoffs, and one might think the circus is in town. Even with the two superstars in the starting five, the Kings were shorthanded, as Rudy Gay (rest), Kosta Koufos (rest), Darren Collison (rest) and Marco Belinelli (foot) were all sidelined. Regardless of who was available, the Blazers are not a great road team. DeMarcus Cousins was able to bully his matchups with Maurice Harkless and Mason Plumlee. The big man scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on 11 - of - 21 shooting. Rajon Rondo packed the box score on his way to a triple - double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. The Blazers looked sloppy in the first half, but C.J. McCollum’s ability to change pace and cut corners on a dime kept the game close enough to take advantage of the shorthanded Kings in the second half. McCollum matched Cousins’ 30 points and added three rebounds, three assists and five three pointers in the contest. Damian Lillard took a few quarters to heat up, but the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, is named “Lillard Time” for a reason. Portland’s point guard scored 22 points, dished out eight assists and did damage from the free throw line where he knocked down 7 - of - 8 shots. Harkless was not exactly superb on the defensive end, but his willingness on the offensive end of the floor led to one of his best performances of the season, as he pitched in 20 points and 16 rebounds (seven of which on the offense) on 50 percent shooting. Neither team's bench shined in the game, but Portland heavily outrebounded Sacramento 49 - 34, while also forcing 19 turnovers. The Blazers will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (54 - 24) as part of the second game of a back - to - back on Wednesday, while the Kings welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves (25 - 52) on Wednesday.
["TeamStat(G,'Kings') has 47 Losses ,has 107 Total points ,has 34 Rebounds ,has 19 Turnovers ,has 31 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Trail Blazers') has 37 Losses ,has 115 Total points ,has 49 Rebounds ,has 42 Turnovers ."]