Three Takeaways As Kings Snap Winning Streak, Fall to Trail Blazers

The Sacramento Kings snap their four-game winning streak as they fall to the Portland Trail Blazers 117-110.

Jan 18, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) drives against Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) and guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

Well, the Sacramento Kings had to lose at some point. After winning a surprising four straight, the Kings fell 117-110 against the Portland Trail Blazers in a close contest. The game was close at the end, but it felt like the Blazers had control for the whole contest and outworked Sacramento.

The winning streak was fun, but this game was a reminder that the Kings are now sitting at 12-31. They'll have good stretches or games, but especially as they continue to work Domantas Sabonis back into the rotation, they'll have games like tonight where they just feel off.

There were still stretches where they played well tonight, but turnovers put them behind early and they were never able to catch back up. They finished with 16 giveaways that led to 28 points for the Blazers. Sacramento had 24 points off of turnovers themselves, but Portland consistently got out in transition to get easy looks. But in the end, the loss isn't the worst thing for the Kings as the talk and hope around a draft pick continues to grow in Sacramento.

Here are three takeaways from the Kings latest loss on the season.

Three Bigs Are Here to Stay

The return of Domantas Sabonis raised questions about the center position and frontcourt rotation, but after two games, it appears we have our answer. Not only are both Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell both going to maintain their spots in the rotation, but the two-big lineups look like they are here to stay.

Doug Christie is doing exactly what needs to be done this season to experiment with the big lineups, and he leaned into it even more tonight against the Blazers. Sabonis only played 19:49 minutes, so it's hard to say what the rotations will be once his minutes increase back to the thirties.

Cardwell once again stood out tonight, finishing the game with a career-high 12 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Kings Couldn't Get Stops Inside

Jan 18, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) dunks against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

Even with those two-big lineups, the Kings struggled to stop the Blazers inside the paint tonight. They outscored the Kings 62-50 inside, and more importantly, shot 10-of-11 in the restricted area.

That's an area where the Kings have struggled all season. They came into the game allowing opponents to shoot a league-high 72.7% in the restricted area. No matter how good Cardwell is inside, this team is struggling to defend the rim.

Part of that was the aforementioned transition buckets for the Blazers, but the Kings have to find a way to get better at protecting the rim as they put so much focus on defense this season.

Monk Continues to Shine

Even in the loss, Monk continued to be a bright spot off the bench. He finished the night with 23 points on 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-9 from three, and was a three-pointer away from one of the biggest pops in Golden 1 Center of the season.

The Kings have shot well from three over the last four games, but it continues to be a struggle for them to get up a high volume of looks from deep. They shot 31 tonights, making 11 for 35.5%. Monk is having a career year from three. He was shooting 40.5% from beyond the arc coming into the game, and that number is going up after his 55.6% shooting from deep tonight.

Three-point shooting continues to reign supreme in the NBA, so whether it be with the Kings or another team following a trade, Monk's three-point success looks to be a season-long trend. But just like it has with the Kings over the recent days, Monk's value could be on the rise in the trade market as his strong play continues.