Oddball moment of the game
Friday's game was halted during the first possession of the second quarter when the backboard clock above the Kings' basket stopped ticking. With 11:38 remaining in the quarter, after Greg Oden was fouled in the paint on the Blazers' end of the court, officials noticed that the clock across the court still read 12:00. After a three-minute delay, while officials talked, arena personnel deliberated --and the Sacramento Kings' lion mascot did snow angels on the court --the teams played with just one working court clock. But the malfunction was short-lived. During a timeout with 6:06 remaining, Arco Arena personnel repaired the clock. Blowout bonanza
After winning by 42 points over Chicago on Wednesday, the Blazers recorded their second blowout victory in a row on Friday with a 117-96 win at Sacramento. It was the first time the Blazers have won two games in row by 20 or more points since January 2000, when they beat Cleveland by 20 at home, then won by 22 at Phoenix. That Blazers team went on to win 59 games, the second most in franchise history.
League leaders
The Blazers entered Friday night's game ranked among the top 10 in the NBA in two statistical categories --turnovers and three-point shooting --but they lead the league in both.
Anchored by the steady hand of starting point guard Steve Blake and the emerging consistency of backup Sergio Rodriguez, the Blazers are committing an average of 12.4 turnovers per game. Only two other teams (Minnesota and Miami) are averaging fewer than 13 turnovers.
Blake, who ranks 10th in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.21, had 44 assists and 14 turnovers entering Friday's game, and Rodriguez, who ranked 18th at 2.67, had 48 assists and 18 turnovers. Only one rotation player is averaging more than two turnovers, and that's Brandon Roy, who entered Friday averaging 2.2.
As for three-point shooting, the Blazers have three players ranked among the league's top 35. Travis Outlaw, who entered Friday night's game draining 50 percent of his threes (19 for 38), ranks eighth, followed by Rudy Fernandez (27th at 44 percent) and Nicolas Batum (35th at 42 percent).
Joe Freeman and Jason Quick
