Deandre Ayton, Trail Blazers zoom past Kings

Deandre Ayton scored 26 points and nine rebounds to help the Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-106 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings in the NBA Cup on Friday night.

Anfrenee Simons had 21 points, nine assists and five rebounds and Deni Avdija added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Portland, which lost four of its last five games.

Dalano Banton had 17 points and five steals off the Trail Blazers bench. Shaedon Sharpe scored 14 points and Toumani Camara 11.

Malik Monk had 29 points and nine assists and De’Aaron Fox added 22 points for Sacramento, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Domantas Sabonis scored 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his 62nd career triple double and fourth of the season.

The Kings were without DeMar Rozan (back) for the second straight game.

The Trail Blazers are 2-1 in NBA Cup West Group A play, while Sacramento is 0-3. The Houston Rockets (3-0) have already won the group.

The Trail Blazers shot 51.1 percent from the field, including 11 of 37 (29.7 percent) from 3-point range. Portland had a 64-34 point advantage on the season.

Portland played without Jerami Grant (knee) and Scoot Henderson (quadriceps).

Sacramento made 44.9 percent of its shots, including 15 of 42 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc, and committed 20 turnovers that led to 24 Portland points. Jae Crowder scored 10 points in 21 minutes in his second game since signing with the Kings.

Portland led by four points at halftime and later reeled off nine straight points to take a 72-55 lead after a basket by Simons with 6:34 left in the third quarter.

Banton hit a three-pointer to make it 81-64 with 3:57 left in the quarter. He buried another score with 31.8 seconds left as the Trail Blazers took an 87-72 lead in the final stanza.

Avdija hit a 12-footer and Sharpe made a layup to give Portland a 107-88 lead with 5:27 left. Sacramento was unable to file a valid charge afterward.

Ayton and Banton each scored 14 points as the Trail Blazers led 54-50 at halftime. Sabonis had 18 at halftime for Sacramento.

–Field level media