Travis Outlaw’s strong second half couldn’t overcome the collective efforts of Sacramento’s Ron Artest, Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin as the Kings defeated the Trail Blazers 105-96 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Rose Garden. The loss, Portland’s fifth straight, drops the Trail Blazers to 28-25 for the season.

Outlaw scored 13 of the Blazers’ 29 fourth quarter points, continuing his season-long trend of stellar late-game performances. Unfortunately for Portland, almost no one else on the home side was able to get going offensively in the fourth, as only Outlaw, Jarrett Jack and Martell Webster managed to score in the final frame.

Portland trailed by as many as nine points early in the fourth quarter, but closed to within 74-73 on Webster's three-pointer. Portland went ahead on Outlaw's off-balance layup under pressure and free throw. It was short-lived, and Ron Artest's three-pointer put the Kings back in front 77-76.

Artest, who finished with a game-high 24 points, was too much for any Trail Blazer to stop on this night.

“We just couldn’t handle Artest,” Nate McMillan said after the game. “We did everything on him---we tried to front him; Brandon started on him then Travis picked him up and Martell also. Then we zoned. But he kept finding his teammates and went hard to the basket and we couldn’t stop him. We did everything but put Joel on him.”

Kevin Martin scored 21 points for the Kings, who were coming off Wednesday's 89-87 loss in Houston before the All-Star break. Francisco Garcia had the hot hand from beyond the arc, hitting 5-of-7 three-pointers on the way to 23 points.

Brandon Roy, who returned from his 18 point, nine rebound performance in the All-Star game with a cold, scored just 11 points.

The Blazers have a day to regroup before starting a back-to-back series with the Seattle SuperSonics. Tickets for the home game on Thursday, which also happens to be Brandon Roy bobblehead night, are still available.