2024-01-09

Detroit Pistons lead by 20, lose by 21 in 131-110 collapse to Sacramento Kings

Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press

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The Detroit Pistons were primed for their biggest win of the season, even without their franchise player. But as they’ve demonstrated multiple times this season, no lead is safe with this team.

As Cade Cunningham sat out his first game of the season with a left knee strain, the Pistons led by 20 points, 47-27, with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. An absurd 43-9 Sacramento Kings run followed, turning a potential blowout win into one of Detroit’s worst losses in a season full of embarrassing defeats, including five straight to fall to 3-34.

The usual suspects were responsible for Detroit’s collapse — untimely turnovers and poor defense. The Pistons ultimately fell to the Kings, 131-110, in front of an unhappy, sparse home crowd at Little Caesars Arena.

After leading by 19, 59-40, in the second quarter, the Pistons were outscored 91-51 the rest of the way. They committed 21 turnovers — 19 in the final three quarters — and allowed Sacramento to shoot 57.4%. The road team was led by Domantas Sabonis’ triple-double (37 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds), Keegan Murray (32 points) and De’Aaron Fox’s 26 points. Malik Monk also chipped in 20 points.

The Pistons were led by Bojan Bogdanovic (26 points, 10-for-14 shooting), Jaden Ivey (22 points, six assists, five rebounds), Jalen Duren (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Alec Burks (16 points). Killian Hayes replaced Cunningham in the starting lineup and finished with four points, seven assists and six turnovers.

The team announced Tuesday morning that Cunningham will be reevaluated in 7-10 days, keeping him out of Detroit’s remaining two home games this week (Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs, and Friday against the Houston Rockets) and their road game Monday against the Washington Wizards. He could return in time for Detroit’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 17.

Pistons dominate 1st quarter, flop in 2nd

The Pistons looked unstoppable in the opening quarter, shooting 76% (19-25) in the period while knocking down seven of 10 3-pointers. They got perfect performances from both Bogdanovic (13 points, 5-for-5 overall, 3-for-3 from 3) and Duren (10 points, 5-for-5), who filled the scoring void left by Cunningham — and then some, at least for a quarter.

Head coach Monty Williams said before the game that he’s encouraging Duren to be more aggressive as a scorer. The 20-year-old answered the call, scoring eight of his first 10 points on dribble-drives to the rim, rather than with his usual diet of lobs and tip-ins. He finished a hook over Sabonis after a shoulder-bump, crossed-up Murray to get to the rim and took the ball coast-to-coast off of a defensive rebound.

Detroit didn’t lose steam after Williams subbed out the starters for the bench at the 3:50 mark. Kevin Knox knocked down a 3, and then finished a 3-point play to extend the lead to 20, 47-27, with 1:21 to play. Bogdanovic kept rolling early in the second, scoring six points in the first five minutes to push Detroit’s lead to 19, 61-42, with 7:15 left until halftime.

The Pistons’ momentum then came to a grinding halt as the Kings took off. Their last field goal of the quarter came at the 7:56 mark, when Bogdanovic knocked down a 3-pointer in transition. A quartet of free throws from Ivey were the only points they could muster as the Kings outscored them by 22 points down the stretch.

The run was fueled by Detroit’s turnover issues, which were exacerbated in the final five minutes after committing just two in the opening period. Detroit turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions to help the Kings score 13 unanswered, and a fifth turnover by Hayes nearly allowed Sacramento to build an even bigger margin. Fox, mercifully, missed the open fastbreak layup on the other end.

Sacramento didn’t take its first lead of the game until 1:10 remaining until halftime, when Fox nailed a floater to put the Kings up by a point, 66-65. Fox nailed another floater shortly before the clock expired, and then opened the third quarter with a free throw to push the run to 27-4 after Alec Burks was whistled for flopping as time in the first half expired.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Sabonis and Fox gave the Kings their biggest lead of the night up until that point, 83-68, and extended their run to 43-9 with 8:35 remaining in the third. After ending the first half with an eight-minute field goal drought, the Pistons didn’t make their first bucket of the third until Bogdanovic knocked down a midrange jumper at the 9:14 mark.

Pistons rally, fall short

Williams went deep into his bench in search of a spark, inserting Joe Harris midway through the third as the Pistons trailed by double digits. The veteran wing, in his first action since Dec. 23, proceeded to knock down a season-high three 3-pointers in the quarter to help trim Detroit’s deficit.

Burks picked up where Harris left off, catching fire at the end of the third by scoring Detroit’s final 12 points to cut Sacramento’s lead to three, 96-93. Duren capped a 14-3 run Kings run with a layup early in the fourth to tie the game at 101.

Sacramento then put together its last run of the night, outscoring Detroit 30-9 in the final 9 minutes.