Trail Blazers easily beat Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif.(AP) The Portland Trail Blazers gave themselves plenty of rest in the opener of back-to-back games.

Steve Blake made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Blazers, who pulled away in the third quarter Friday night for their second straight lopsided victory, 117-96 over the struggling Sacramento Kings.

The Blazers, who conclude a stretch of seven of eight games on the road Saturday in Phoenix, were coming off a 116-74 victory Wednesday over Chicago, their largest margin of victory since a 45-point win over Dallas in 1997.

"I've had lots of rest the last two games,'' said leading scorer Brandon Roy, who scored 16 points in 27 minutes, failing to reach 20-point mark for the first time in eight games.

After shooting 59 percent in the opening half, the Blazers scored the final 10 points of the third quarter to open a 94-69 lead that was never dipped below 20 in the fourth.

"What a third quarter,'' Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "We came out very aggressive and pushed the ball. We were very aggressive and made our shots. We quit turning the ball over and we controlled the boards, that is what paid off for us.''

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points for the Blazers, who made 14 of 26 3-point attempts and shot 56 percent overall. Travis Outlaw made three 3-pointers and had 15 points, Rudy Fernandez made four threes and added 14 points, while Joel Przybilla contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Rookie Jason Thompson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost three of four games. Brad Miller scored 16 points, Spencer Hawes had 15 and Bobby Brown added 13 points and seven assists.

The Kings will get a quick opportunity for redemption. After visiting the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the Kings fly to Portland for a Monday game at the Rose Garden, where the Blazers are 4-0 this season.

"These guys (Portland) are pretty good, I mean they played great,'' Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "They shot lights out. I can't even dissect the game tonight because I think we played OK and they just played great.''

Blake and Outlaw both made a pair of 3-pointers and joined Roy with eight third-quarter points for Portland, which outscored Sacramento 37-18 in the period and rendered the Arco Arena crowd silent.

Aldridge feels the return of rookie center Greg Oden, who missed two weeks with an injury, and the continued development of Portland's young players is making a big difference of late.

"When we get our rhythm and continue to get better, this is what we're capable of doing,'' said Aldridge, who had six rebounds.

The Kings continue to play without leading scorer Kevin Martin, starting forward Mikki Moore, and top reserve Francisco Garcia. All three players have ankle injuries.

After opening the season with three straight wins at home, the Kings have dropped four straight, a rarity in the Sacramento era, where noisy Arco Arena has always been a tough place for opponents. The Kings had back-to-back two-point losses last week to Phoenix and San Antonio.

"When it rains it pours and that was definitely the case tonight,'' Hawes said. "I don't know how many 3s were going in. And the ones that weren't were long rebounds it seemed like they were getting.''

In a fast-paced opening half, it was Aldridge scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second quarter as Portland took a 57-51 lead at the break. Hawes came off the bench to score 10 points for the Kings.

Portland, which leads the NBA in 3-point percentage, made four straight at one point in the first quarter, including three by Blake. The 3-point barrage continued in the second quarter as the Blazers continued to expose an early season defensive weakness of the Kings.

"I was feeling good, I hit that first one and you just want to keep going until you miss,'' Blake said.

Notes: Thompson had seven points and six rebounds in the opening quarter for the Kings, who trailed 28-25 Przybilla continued his amazing early season shooting, hitting his first four attempts. He entered the game shooting 81 percent. Kings point guard Beno Udrih went crashing to the floor and left the game after taking an elbow by Oden late in the third quarter. Although not seriously injured, Udrih did not play again.