Trail Blazers beat Kings 115-106 to stay alive in NBA Cup

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Deandre Ayton had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-106 victory over the Sacramento Kings in an NBA Cup game on Friday night.

Anfernee Simons added 21 points and nine assists and Deni Avdija had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers. Dalano Banton scored 17 off the bench and also had a career-high five steals.

Malik Monk led the Kings with 29 points off the bench. De’Aaron Fox added 22 points and Domantas Sabonis had 21.

With the win, the Blazers are now 2-1 in the Western Conference's Group A behind the Rockets, who lead the group at 3-0, and remain in contention to advance after the Lakers lost 101-93 to the Thunder on Friday. The Kings are 0-3 in the NBA Cup.

Blazers: It was a balanced effort for Portland with six players, including all five starters, scoring in double figures.

Kings: Sacramento lost despite attempting five more 3-pointers and 13 more free throws than Portland.

A 9-2 run with five minutes left in the second quarter put Portland ahead and left Sacramento playing from behind the rest of the game.

The Blazers outscored the Kings 64-34 in the paint.

The Kings return home to face the Spurs on Saturday, while the Blazers play the Mavericks at home the same day.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba