betlead NBA: Jae Crowder providing lift as Kings battle Blazers

Sacramento Kings forward Jae Crowder (99) talks to fans against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter of an NBA game at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Jae Crowder landed in Minneapolis an hour before midnight on Tuesday night, then signed his contract with the Sacramento Kings three hours prior to tipoff of Wednesday night’s NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Crowder passed a physical and went through meetings but didn’t take part in Sacramento’s midday shootaround. Playing in the game wasn’t on his mind.

Article continues after this advertisement

“Once I walked into that meeting room with the guys, I saw my name. I was like, ‘Alright, it’s here,’ ” Crowder said. “So, I just prepared and tried to get my mind where it needs to be.”

FEATURED STORIES SPORTS PBA: Familiarity working in Cameron Clark’s favor SPORTS PBA: Meralco rallies from 23 down to beat Phoenix SPORTS PBA: Cameron Clark leads guest team Hong Kong Eastern to 2-0 start

READ: NBA: Suns trying to trade Jae Crowder, who isn’t reporting to camp

Crowder, 34, will play his second contest for the Kings on Friday night when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers.

Article continues after this advertisement

The game is part of the NBA Cup. The Trail Blazers are 1-1 in West Group A play and the Kings are 0-2. The Houston Rockets lead the group with a 3-0 mark.

Article continues after this advertisement

Crowder played 27 minutes in his Sacramento debut and had eight points and four rebounds as the Kings rallied for a 115-104 victory. Sacramento outscored Minnesota 34-18 in the fourth quarter to end a four-game losing streak.

Article continues after this advertisement

The Kings are hoping the 13-year veteran’s experience will be a nice complement to their star trio of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan.

He has averages of 9.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 804 career games (435 starts) and has long been known for his strong defensive presence.

Article continues after this advertisement

The other trait long associated with Crowder is winning.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) and Sacramento Kings forward Jae Crowder (99) chase down a loose ball in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

“Jae has been around a long time,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “He’s been in the playoffs 11 straight years, so he knows what it takes to win.”

Sacramento is the ninth team for Crowder, who has averaged in double digits in scoring seven times. Before he was in the NBA, he was the co-star of a Marquette team that included longtime NBA star Jimmy Butler.

READ: NBA: Bucks acquire Jae Crowder from Nets

DeRozan missed the contest against the Timberwolves due to lower back pain and has been ruled out for Friday’s game.

Portland has dropped two straight games and four of its last five.

The Trail Blazers concluded a 1-4 road trip with Wednesday’s 121-114 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Anfernee Simons broke out of his slump with 30 points and six 3-pointers. He had scored in single digits in four of the previous five games, including 2-of-14 shooting from the field for five points in a 123-98 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.

“I thought Ant was good. He was aggressive all night,” Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said after the loss to the Pacers. “His shots were going. He made them pay for defensive mistakes that they made down there.”

Billups was unhappy with Portland’s board work as his squad was outrebounded 47-38. Indiana gobbled up 19 offensive rebounds.

“We fought extremely hard. All our guys played hard,” Billups said. “It’s hard to overcome (nearly) 20 offensive rebounds and (22) second-chance points. It’s hard to overcome that.

“You can play as hard as you want but if you can’t grab that offensive rebound and you keep giving good offensive teams more opportunities to score … it wears you down.”

Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (sprained left knee) missed the Indiana game and is doubtful for Friday’s game.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

SIGN ME UP

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Sacramento has won six of the past seven meetingsbetlead, including a 111-98 home victory on Oct. 28. Fox scored 24 points and DeRozan added 23 for the Kings. Deandre Ayton recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds to pace Portland. –Field Level Media

READ NEXT Thunder face Lakers in NBA Cup game, eye perfect road trip Iga Swiatek accepts one-month suspension in doping case EDITORS' PICK NBI seeks VP Sara Duterte’s cooperation in probing threats to her life South Korea scrambles jets as Chinese, Russian warplanes approach Artist Maria Angelica Tan explores what it means to be a Chinese Filipina in an ever-growing world Mass deportations: LA reaffirms support for undocumented immigrants Starbucks coffee and a glimpse of a North Korean mountain village Marcos says he ordered impeachment moves vs VP Sara Duterte stopped MOST READ Comelec junks plea of 18 nuisance bets, one of them to seek SC's help South Korea scrambles jets as Chinese, Russian warplanes approach Taguba says he never changed tune on Paolo Duterte Marcos says he ordered impeachment moves vs VP Sara Duterte stopped Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments

• NBA
• betlead
• Providing
• Jae
• Crowder