The Portland Trail Blazers are expected to have a big obstacle standing in their way of reaching the .500 mark when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Portland got within one game of .500 for just the second time since mid-November on Saturday night when they rolled past the Luka Doncic-less Los Angeles Lakers 132-116 at home on the front end of a back-to-back.
The last time the Trail Blazers got within a win of the break-even mark was at 19-20. They failed to reach .500 two nights later when they dropped a 123-114 decision to the New York Knicks last Sunday.
The last time Portland had as many wins as losses in its record was at 6-6 on Nov. 14. The Trail Blazers went just 36-46 last season.
One reason for the improvement has been rookie Caleb Love, who came off the bench to contribute 22 points and seven assists to Saturday’s win over the Lakers.
Undrafted out of Arizona last June, Love will take the court in Sacramento ranked eighth among rookies in scoring (11.2) and 14th in assists (2.6).
Love also had two of Portland’s nine steals Saturday and later noted in a televised interview from courtside that improved defense has been the driving force in the club’s recent success. The Trail Blazers have won nine of their past 12 games.
“We were just playing team ball, playing off each other,” Love cited as the secret to holding the Lakers to fewer than 30 points in three of four quarters. “We were getting stops, making them uncomfortable. That’s our motto.”
The Trail Blazers have won both previous meetings with the Kings this season, using different means to gain their advantage. They needed 134 points to secure a one-point overtime win at home on Dec. 18, then allowed just 93 points in a five-point victory in a rematch at Sacramento two nights later.
Sacramento didn’t have star center Domantas Sabonis for either contest as he was early in a 27-game stint of being sidelined by a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The double-double machine returned to the lineup Friday at home against the Washington Wizards, helping the Kings win a season-best fourth straight game with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench in 21 minutes.
Sabonis returned to a team that had seen rookies Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell man the center position. Raynaud retained his starting spot against the Wizards, contributing four points, eight rebounds and five assists to the win, while Cardwell chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Sabonis, who often worked in tandem with one of the rookies against the Wizards, looks forward to playing more as a power forward.
“They’re not scared. They’ve been amazing,” he told reporters about the rookie big men after Friday’s win. “(Their presence) allows me to be more aggressive out there in the pick-and-roll and stuff, and if my guy gets behind me, we’ve got (one of them) taking care of everything. Definitely felt more free on defense. And then on offense, I get to be a playmaker.”
Sabonis had a triple-double and three double-doubles when the Kings and Trail Blazers split four games last season. He averaged 17.3 points, 15.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in those games.
