Aldridge has 20, Oden 18 as Trail Blazers beat Kings 98-86 in preseason opener

Oden scores 18 as Blazers beat Kings 98-86

PORTLAND, Ore. — Reserve Greg Oden had 18 points and nine rebounds in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 98-86 victory over the Sacramento Kings in the preseason opener for both teams on Tuesday night.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points for Portland and Andre Miller, signed as a free agent in the offseason, came off the bench to score 16 points to heat up the competition with Steve Blake for Portland’s starting point guard spot.

Rookie Tyreke Evans started for the Kings after bruising his left knee at the start of training camp. The fourth overall pick from Memphis had 12 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes.

It was the preseason debut of new Kings coach Paul Westphal, who took over in the offseason. Sacramento went 17-65 last season.