The Sacramento Kings took a trip to Detroit to take on the Pistons, and things did not go well. The offense remained relatively competitive, but the defense just could not hold Cade Cunningham and his team back. Nothing will change in Sactown until they figure this situation out.
After an unexpected four-game winning streak, the Kings are now riding a five-game losing slide back to the bottom of the Western Conference. And taking on the top team in the Eastern Conference was not a good way to try to break that losing streak. It was always going to be a tough fight.
Giving credit where credit is due, the Kings' offense actually played pretty well. Sacramento shot 52.4% for the field compared to 54.9% for the Pistons. A big difference was shooting percentages from both the three-point arc and the free-throw line. Detroit dominated in both stat categories.
Kings defense just can't get it going
As is so often the case with Sacramento, the problem was on the defensive end of the court. The Kings just couldn't figure out how to slow the Pistons down, particularly their star Cade Cunningham. He finished the game with 29 points, five rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, and one block.
Honestly, Cunningham would have stomped the Kings even harder, but the coach sat him down when the Pistons were firmly in charge of the game. The problem wasn't just Cade, though. The whole team from Detroit was in on the action against Sacramento.
The Pistons had 14 players suited up for the game, all of them got minutes, and all but one of them scored. Eight of those players scored in double digits, with Cade being the top Detroit scorer with his 29 points on 13 of 22 shooting from the field. The Kings' defense just didn't get it done.
Sacramento has to maintain a defensive rhythm
It's not like the Kings don't have some solid defenders on the team. Players like Precious Achiuwa and Dylan Cardwell have proven to be solid assets on that end of the court. Malik Monk has also been a surprisingly good defender lately, picking up one steal and three blocks against the Pistons.
They also can't do it all by themselves. During the injury absence of Domantas Sabonis, the Kings actually got a legit defensive rhythm going. It led to that incredibly rare four-game win streak. No one is saying it's his fault, but the return of Sabonis seems to have thrown everything the Kings built off.
The entire league knows that the Kings are having a fire sale of most of their biggest stars and want to rebuild as a defensive powerhouse. To be completely honest, that's the absolute bare minimum needed to fix this mess. Without the rebuild, these weak defensive performances will continue.