Roy scores 28 points, Trail Blazers beat Kings for third straight victory

Roy, Blazers beat Kings for 3rd straight win

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brandon Roy scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 110-94 on Friday night for their third straight victory.

Ahead by 15 at the half, the Trail Blazers came out strong in the third quarter in building the lead to as high as 26 points. Following a quiet first half with two points, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 12 in the period as Portland went ahead 87-66.

Carl Landry had 18 points and Francisco Garcia scored 17 for the Kings, who committed 20 turnovers and have dropped four of five. Jason Thompson scored 15 points, Beno Udrih had 13 and Tyreke Evans had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Aldridge scored 18 points, Andre Miller had 15 and Nicolas Batum added 11 for Portland, which never let the lead dip close to single digits in an uninspired fourth quarter by both teams.

The victory keeps the Blazers four games ahead of Memphis in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blazers, who have won six of seven games and are 8-2 since a Feb. 21 loss to Utah, are now a season-high 12 games over .500 at 40-28.

The Kings had a brief 7-5 lead in the opening quarter, but the advantage was fleeting. The Blazers frustrated the Sacramento defense repeatedly and also visited the free throw line frequently in building the sizable lead by halftime.

The frustration boiled over for Kings coach Paul Westphal late in the third quarter. Following a foul call against Kings reserve guard Garrett Temple with 1.1 seconds left, Westphal strolled up the sideline and told referee Derek Richardson that, “You guys are worse than we are tonight.”

Coming off his fourth career 40-plus game Thursday night when he scored 41 points to halt a nine-game losing streak at Golden State, Roy got going early against the Kings. He had 13 points in the opening quarter, overshadowing Evans, the Kings’ heralded rookie.

The Kings look at Portland and the team’s progress under Roy and hope they can emulate it with Evans leading the way. Roy was Rookie of the Year in 2006-07 and has played a major role in the past three years in transforming the Blazers from a former lottery team to last year’s Northwest Division co-champs.

A rookie from Memphis, Evans was coming off his first career triple-double, getting 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists Wednesday in a convincing win over Toronto.

Roy scored 20 first-half points and helped the Blazers assume a 61-46 by intermission. Landry had 12 points for the Kings, who shot nearly 53 percent but committed 10 turnovers.

NOTES: The Blazers had just two turnovers in the opening half and made all 17 free throws. Kings rookie Jon Brockman has missed the last 12 games with a sprained right knee suffered in practice Feb. 19. The Blazers made 29 of 32 free throws.