John Salmons scored all 18 of his points in the second half to push the Sacramento Kings over the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-86 at ARCO Arena.
Sacramento, which has now won seven of the last 10 meetings against Portland, had all five starters in double figures. Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia each tallied 16 points, while Spencer Hawes and Mikki Moore contributed 15 and 10, respectively.
Martin left the game in the fourth quarter with a strained right knee and will be evaluated tomorrow.
"It's another good win for us," Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said. "We've played well at home most of the year and we've just got to continue so we can end the season strong."
Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridge's 24 points and 15 rebounds. Channing Frye finished with a double-double of his own with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Travis Outlaw came off the pine to net 18 points.
"We didn't have much movement at all especially early," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought we tried to get ourselves into the game after we got down by some points. Just passing and standing, we weren't making shots. We needed to move ourselves and move the ball more."
Beno Udrih, who finished with 11 points, scored 10 quick ones for the Kings to spark a 29-18 Sacramento lead after one quarter of play.
The Trail Blazers erased a 20-point deficit in the second stanza thanks to terrific offensive rebounding. An 11-4 run to end the quarter allowed Portland to get within striking distance at, 51-41, at intermission.
Aldridge single-handedly made a game of it in the early going of the third with eight points in the first five minutes. His dunk with 7:25 left in the quarter brought Portland to within 57-53.
That was as close as it would get with Salmons' three field goals sparking a 13-1 run over a five-minute span. The pivotal stretch catapulted the Kings to a 78-62 lead with just 12 minutes left to play.
Two three-point plays the old fashioned way by Salmons midway through the fourth ended any chance the Trail Blazers had at a comeback. The buckets pushed Sacramento ahead, 90-75 and the differential never hit single digits again.
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