The Sacramento Kings (26-42) loss at The Palace of Auburn Hills against the Detroit Pistons (35-34) was very familiar. They had a slow start and were down by double digits early.
Their defense was wildly inconsistent and then the Kings were able to fight back and erase an 18-point deficit, only to come up short losing 115-108.
This season, it’s been this same story in most of the Kings losses.
It took two back-to-back uncontested three-pointers by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the fourth quarter for the Pistons to finally pull away from the Kings. Ultimately, it was a horrible first quarter the Kings couldn’t overcome.
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They were outscored 39-25 in the first quarter. They then decided to start playing in the second. And they came out energized after halftime but it was all too little too late.
DeMarcus Cousins tallied 31 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. It’s his 18th 30 point/10 rebound double-double of the season. But it doesn’t matter how good of a game Cousins has if the Pistons score 39 points in the first quarter. Marcus Morris had six three-pointers and 20 of his 24 points in the first half where the Pistons scored 67 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Kings tied the game at 87, but their porous defense was allowing too many easy shots. And their perimeter defense once again allowed wide open shots from the arc that became nails in the coffin.
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Again the Kings can’t seem to play for a full four quarters and their defense is nonexistent. Sacramento was hobbled with Omri Casspi, Ben McLemore, and Willie Cauley-Stien all out with injuries or illnesses. It was the Kings 11th loss in the last 13 games.
Rajon Rondo finished with 10 points and 13 assists and Rudy Gay added 19 points. For Detroit, Caldwell-Pope had 23 points and Andre Drummond had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Sacramento had zero fast break points, which seems impossible when Detroit gave up 15 total turnovers. The Kings were also outrebounded by Detroit 35-49. Both Gay and Quincy Acy only tallied 3 rebounds each.
Kings will be in New York on Sunday night to face the Knicks.