Kings’ losing streak continues with crazy fourth-quarter collapse against Detroit Pistons
The Kings hit a new low Thursday when a stunning fourth-quarter collapse led to another tough loss.
Jaden Ivey converted a four-point play with 3.1 seconds remaining to complete a huge comeback as the Detroit Pistons escaped with a 114-113 win over the Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Kings led by 19 in the third quarter and held a 15-point lead with under eight minutes remaining, but somehow they found a way to lose their fifth consecutive game at home.
“Maybe a loss like this helps us,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “I don’t know, but we’ve got to wake up.”
Cade Cunningham had 33 points and 10 assists for the Pistons (14-17), who have won three in a row. Malik Beasley came off the bench to score 22 points. Ivey had 19.
De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points to lead the Kings (13-18), who have not won a game since Dec. 12. Trey Lyles scored a season-high 20 points. DeMar DeRozan had 19.
Fox seemed somewhat despondent when it was over, offering a series of short responses during his postgame news conference.
“I think everything that could have gone wrong in the fourth quarter did,” Fox said.
The Pistons shot 50% from the field while going 7 of 12 (.583) from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.
“Give our guys a ton of credit,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They never gave in, and then in that fourth quarter to outscore them 37-22 and come up with the win I thought was huge for our guys. Speaks to the character of this group. We never lay down. We never quit.”
The Kings were outscored 31-15 over the final 7:12.
“To relax like that at that point in the game was tough,” Brown said. “I also don’t like the pace we had in the last six minutes. I kept telling our guys, ‘Push it, push it, push it, drive it, kick it,’ just like we did most of the game, and we come to a complete stop with about six minutes to go. Three minutes to go, we’re rolling the ball and walking it, going against a set defense every time. Somehow, someway, we have to pay attention to the little details.”
The Kings fell to 6-12 at home and 3-11 in games decided by five points or less. They are 12th in the Western Conference, three games out of the final play-in spot.
Sacramento was missing All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis, who was ruled out due to illness about two hours before tipoff. The Kings started Alex Len in place of Sabonis, Brown said replacing Sabonis would have to be a group effort
“All our bigs may have an opportunity to play at some point tonight because you’re not going to get what Domas gives you from one guy, so you’ve just got to do it by committee,” Brown said.
Keegan Murray had the hot hand early for Sacramento, going 3 of 4 from the field and 1 of 2 from 3-point range while scoring nine points in the first six minutes. Cunningham got off to a strong start for Detroit, scoring 12 points in the opening period.
Sacramento led 37-34 at the end of a high-scoring first quarter. Fox went 0 of 5 from the field while the rest of the team went 12 of 14.
The Kings were still clinging to a three-point lead when Lyles caught fire early in the second quarter. Lyles scored 13 consecutive points in a span of 2:40, single-handedly fueling a 13-0 run that put Sacramento up 52-36.
The Kings led by as many as 17 in the first half and carried a 68-53 lead into the halftime break. They shot 53.8% from the field and made 10 of 21 (.476) from 3-point range in the opening half while handing out 15 assists on 21 made baskets.
Sacramento led by as many as 19 in the third quarter before Detroit staged an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 10. Fox ended the run with a three-point play, capping a big third quarter after a quiet first half.
Fox was held to one point on 0-of-7 shooting in the opening half. He scored 14 points in the third quarter, going 6 of 9 from the field and 1 of 2 from 3-point range.
The Kings led 91-77 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Pistons stormed back to cut the deficit to one on a 3-pointer by Beasley with 1:04 to go.
Kevin Huerter made two free throws to give the Kings a 113-110 lead with 19 seconds remaining, but Fox fouled Ivey on a corner 3-pointer on Detroit’s final possession. Ivey made the shot and the ensuing free throw to help the Pistons escape with an improbable victory.
Brown was clearly frustrated with his team’s lack of attention to detail.
“Jaden shouldn’t have had an opportunity to even shoot a 3 because we told our guys, ‘If somebody catches and their back is to the basket, foul them,’ and they dribbled for eight seconds and we didn’t foul them,” Brown said.
“So, that’s the first thing. The second thing is, if you’re up three, you’ve got to guard your man at the 3-point line, and there should be no closeout opportunity — no closeout opportunity. We told them that. They know the only thing that can hurt us is a 3. I need to go back and watch the film to see exactly where Fox was, but there was no reason for there to be a hard closeout.”
Brown liked how his team played through the first three quarters, but the fourth quarter was a disaster.
“There was a fight there,” Brown said. “Our guys tried to play the right way. We brought a level of physicality to the game. We boxed out, got it off the glass and pushed it in transition. When the game got tight, we let our foot off the gas and we looked at the officials to help us win the game instead of just going to get it.”
This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 10:58 PM.
