SACRAMENTO -- For the first two quarters, neither the Trail Blazers nor the Kings had much success putting together sustained periods of decent basketball.
That changed in the second half, at least for the road team.
After entering the intermission tied at 57-57, Trail Blazers scored the first 12 points of the third and outscored the Kings by 10 in quarter to set up a 122-112 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,583 Friday night at Golden 1 Center.
"That was a really challenging game," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "Sacramento plays a style that's really tough to guard. They push the tempo, they shoot threes, they played small lineups. I was proud of the way we defended during certain stretches, I thought we made most of our runs when we defended well. It's always good to get a road win."
Portland is now 1-1 for the season and 1-0 on the road.
While Portland managed to shoot better than 50 percent from the field and committed just seven turnover in the first half, their difficulty defending the three-point line and inability to slow Sacramento’s second-chance opportunities ruined their chances of going into the break with a lead.
"First half, we didn't think we played well at all," said Damian Lillard. "So to come in here at the half with a tie game, opening night for them with the pace they was playing at and how well they were playing, we felt good about where we were. Coach talked about the adjustments we need to make defensively with our communication, our physicality, kind of executing our defensive game plan better."
Had it not been for the play of Anfernee Simons, who scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the second quarter alone, Portland likely would have gone into the locker room with a deficit.
"It was good to see (Simons) score," said Stotts. "That's his strength. We didn't have a lot going on during that stretch and he really provided some timely shooting for us."
After the break, the Trail Blazers righted the ship, scoring the first 12 points to start the quarter, then finishing by going on a 15-2 run to take a 90-76 lead with 1:47 to play in the third.
Hassan Whiteside did much of the damage on offense, scoring 16 points in the quarter, while Portland’s defense held Sacramento without a field goal for over four minutes late in the third.
"Hassan was terrific," said Stotts. "Third quarter, he was big for us offensively. He was challenging shots at the rim, rebounding, a strong impact on the game."
Portland would take a 10-point lead into the fourth, and would go up by as many as 18 thanks to shooting a blistering 63 percent from the field and 57 percent from three in the final 12 minutes. As has been the case on occasion in Sacramento, the fourth turned into "Dame Time," with the 6-3 glared going a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from three for 13 points in ruder six minutes.
"Dame was special," said Kent Bazemore. "It's my first time seeing it on his side. It was special to watch. Kept getting stops down the stretch and the gameplay really came into fruition for us late."
Kings head coach Luke Walton would wave the white flag relatively early, allowing the Blazers to coast to the 10-point victory in the final two minutes.
TOP PERFORMERS
Damian Lillard came on strong in the second half, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter before finishing with a game-high 35 points to go with five assists, five rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes.
Whiteside went 9-of-10 from the field after also missing just one attempt in Portland’s opener and finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in 26 minutes.
Simons finished with 15 points in 21 minutes and CJ McCollum shook off a 0-of-5 start from the field to end the game with 19 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Kent Bazemore put in yeoman’s work of the bench, going 4-of-7 from the field for nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 23 minutes.
De”Aaron Fox led the Kings with 28 points, with 11 of those coming at the free throw line. Buddy Hield added 21 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic chipped in 16 off the bench.
NOTABLE
• Friday's game was the second time in his career that Anfernee Simons scored in double figures. The first game was the final outing of last season when he scored 37, also against Sacramento.
• Portland was tied at halftime 3 times last season, going 2-1 in those games (beat Brooklyn twice and lost to Washington).
• Hassan Whiteside finished the game 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists tonight; first time in his career that he's put up that stat line or better
• Damian Lillard is only the second Blazer with 30+ in each of Portland's first two games of a season (Kiki Vandeweghe in 1987).
• Damian Lillard put up 35 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Just the third time in his career that he's had that stat line or better.
QUOTABLE
"Them guys was just diming me up so I was just trying to finish to the best of why abilities." -- Hassan Whiteside on his third-quarter performance
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT UP
Next up, the Trail Blazers continue their first road trip of the season with a Texas two-step starting Sunday in Dallas. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.