Pistons at Kings
The Detroit Pistons hung around with the undefeated Golden State Warriors until the fourth quarter on Monday, which may be their most impressive feat so far on a road trip that includes wins over Portland and Phoenix. The Pistons will try to improve to 3-1 on the trip when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Detroit was within four points early in the fourth quarter before suffering a 109-95 loss but managed to pull out some positives. “After the game, I came in the locker room and told myself that tonight was a learning experience for us,” center Andre Drummond told reporters. “We went against the defending champs and they know what it takes to get a win. Today was a day to see where we are at and see what we have to work on to get better, maybe take a few things out of their book as well.” The Kings can count a loss to Golden State as part of their six-game slide as well and are having trouble competing on the defensive end. Sacramento allowed its opponents an average of 110 points in the last six games.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (5-2): Turnovers proved to be a big problem against both Golden State and the Indiana Pacers, against whom Detroit suffered its only other loss on Nov. 3. The Pistons committed a total of 43 miscues in the two losses, and coach Stan Van Gundy has noticed the problem. “I thought forcing too many plays, one dribble too many, trying to force plays,” Van Gundy told reporters. “There are people open on the perimeter. We keep talking about it. We keep showing film and we’re just struggling with it.”
ABOUT THE KINGS (1-7): The only good thing to come out of Monday’s 106-88 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs was the return of center DeMarcus Cousins, who missed the previous four games with an Achilles injury. Cousins put up 21 points and 12 rebounds in his 200th career double-double but, like the Pistons, the Kings ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Rajon Rondo was forced to play a full 48 minutes due to injuries to backup guards Seth Curry and Darren Collison and committed nine turnovers to go along with 12 assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Curry (ankle) could return on Wednesday while Collison (hamstring) is questionable.
2. Sacramento G/SF Marco Belinelli is 6-of-10 from 3-point range in the last two games.
3. Detroit has taken five straight in the series.