March 3rd, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, left, shoots over Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins.
Apparently, Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan was none too pleased with his team’s performance againat the Houston Rockets last Turesday.
So what punishment did he dole out? Extra practice? Nope. McMillan instead made his team watch their performance against Houston. If the Trail Blazers’ performance against the Sacramento Kings is any indicator, maybe they need to watch more game film.
While the game was relatively competitive, Portland pulled away in the fourth on Wesley Matthews’ 11 points and defeated Sacramento 107-102 at Power Balance Pavilion.
As offense-challenged as the Blazers were in heir last two games (87 and 83 points), they were hot early on as LaMarcus Aldridge scored 16 first-half points whilke Andre Miller scored 13, allowing Portland to take a 61-53 lead at the break.
Demarcus Cousins helped Sacramento get to within three points halfway through the third, but Portland built the lead to 79-73 going into the fourth quarter.
The Trail Blazers put together a 7-0 spurt to take a 102-95 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
Six Trail Blazers scored in double-digtis, led by Matthews with 21 points, along with 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while Aldridge added 20 with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. Miller poured in 19 with 2 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal while Nicolas Batum chipped in 17 (including three 3-pointers) with a rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block.
The Kings were led by Cousins from off the bench with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and a block while Marcus Thornton added 26 with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Beno Udrih chipped in 13 with 2 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal.
Both teams return to action on Saturday night when Portland (34-27) returns home to host the Charlotte Hornets while Sacramento (15-44) flies east to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz.
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