The Sacramento Kings led by as many as 16, but a disastrous third quarter led to a third-straight home loss, 124-112 to the visiting Detroit Pistons.
“There are some positives in this, but overall, we didn’t come out with a win,” said Kings head coach Keith Smart after the game. “The bottom line is if you don’t get a win, it erases everything that you did that was positive. We will keep going and we will keep fighting through this thing. We have to fight through it, and these young men will keep doing that.”
The Kings seemed to lose their resolve following a roughly 30-second stretch in the second quarter. Leading by 14, they turned the ball over three times and committed three fouls. The Pistons proceeded to cut the lead to one and trailed 57-58 entering halftime.
Jason Thompson’s effort is likely to be forgotten because of the defeat. The Kings power forward scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in 40 minutes of action. Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas each scored 23 and 21 points, respectively.
In their 12-point win, the Pistons’ were paced by two 30-point scorers. Greg Monroe finished with a career-high 32 points. Rodney Stuckey scored 19 of his game-high 35 points in the third quarter.
The Kings fall to 2-3 on their current nine-game homestand. They host the Boston Celtics Friday.
Notes and Analysis
- After just a quarter and change, Thompson achieved his seventh double-double this season. He had a stellar night scoring around the basket and finished shooting 10-for-12 from the field.
- Finishing with just 14 points and seven rebounds, DeMarcus Cousins had a rough night. A 44-second stretch in the third quarter pretty much sums up the Kings center’s evening: 9:59 – gets called for travelling, 9:27 – misses an easy dunk, 9:25 – shows frustration after missing the first of two free throws, then 9:16 – gets called for a blocking foul while attempting to draw a charge.
- Marcus Thornton finished with just nine points on 3-for-9 shooting. In the Kings’ last two games, Thornton is shooting 31.8 percent from the field.
- The Kings have allowed four of their last five opponents to shoot at least 50-percent from the field. The Pistons shot 58.1 percent on Wednesday evening.
- Tayshaun Prince repeatedly beat the Kings from the perimeter, finishing with 28 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field and three-made 3-point attempts. He also recorded five rebounds, seven assists, one steal and two blocks in 37 minutes of action.
- In addition to recording a career-high 32 points, Monroe grabbed 11 rebounds to record his 21st double-double of the season.
- During a three-minute span in the third quarter, Stuckey scored 12-straight points for the Pistons. Nine of them came from three-point buckets.
- In addition to Monroe, Brandon Knight also finished quietly with a double-double. The Pistons rookie scored 10 points and dished out 11 assists in 38 minutes of action.
- Detroit recorded a season-high 124 points in just their fourth road win of the season. Their previous high? 114 points on February 17th versus this same Kings team
- Stat of the Night: The Pistons shot 75 percent from the field (15-for-20) and made all five of their three-point attempts en route to a 40-point third quarter.
Injury Report
Tyreke Evans injured his left ankle late in the fourth quarter. X-rays were negative and he is considered day-to-day.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMmVfvN3LM&w=560&h=315]James Ham also contributed to this report.
Follow @itsjonsantiago
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
