Pistons-Kings Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 14 2012 2:40AM

While the Detroit Pistons have played well enough to move back into the Eastern Conference playoff mix in the Eastern Conference, struggles on the road against the West threaten to derail their momentum.

Those woes have yet to extend to Sacramento.

The Pistons continue a five-game trip Wednesday night when they visit the Kings.

Detroit (15-27) has slowly turned things around after a miserable start, recording 11 of its 15 wins since the start of February.

With four wins in six games, the Pistons have climbed back into the fringe of playoff contention. They are currently 11th in the East, three games behind New York and Milwaukee, which are tied for the final spot.

However, the next few weeks could be difficult for Detroit, which lost 105-90 at Utah on Monday to open a five-game road tip against Western Conference opponents. The Pistons have lost 17 straight road games - five this season by an average of 15.4 points - versus teams from the West.

Detroit, which has also dropped four straight on the road overall, plays eight of its next nine away from home.

If there's a silver lining for the Pistons, it's that their last road victory versus the West came at Sacramento, a 100-94 win Nov. 14, 2010. They've won their last three road games against the Kings, and the last four overall meetings in the series.

The Pistons let the Jazz connect on 7 of 11 3-point attempts and shoot 54.2 percent overall during Monday's loss. Detroit managed to close within two points of the Jazz in the fourth quarter despite those numbers, but Utah ended the game on an 18-3 run.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 29 points while Greg Monroe added 14 in the defeat.

"We just weren't executing on the offensive end coming down the stretch," Monroe told the Pistons' official website. "Tonight definitely didn't turn out how we wanted it to. We have to go watch some tape, see what we did wrong, but we have a lot more games left on this road trip."

After Wednesday, Detroit will visit Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver to close its trip. The best opportunity to win on the swing may come versus Sacramento (14-28), which has the second-worst record in the West.

The Kings have lost six of eight and two straight, including a 115-89 home loss Tuesday to a Golden State team playing short-handed after trading Monta Ellis.

"We thought because they didn't have Monta Ellis and stuff, we thought it was going to be easy on ourselves," said Sacramento's Tyreke Evans, who had 16 points. "I thought we just stopped playing. They just got whatever they wanted."

Tuesday's loss dropped the Kings to 2-2 on a franchise-record nine-game homestand, which had opened in promising fashion with wins over New Orleans and Dallas. They've been outrebounded in all four games while allowing opposing teams to shoot 50.3 percent.

The Pistons defeated the Kings 114-108 at home Feb. 17, when Stuckey scored 36 points and Tayshaun Prince added 22 and 10 rebounds.

Stuckey, Monroe lead Pistons past Kings 124-112

Posted Mar 15 2012 2:07AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A happy postgame locker room was a rare sight early in the season for the Detroit Pistons, a struggling team that was playing as poorly as any club in the NBA.

But those grim postgame blues have occurred infrequently of late for the surging Pistons, who have won five of seven games.

Rodney Stuckey scored 35 points and Greg Monroe matched his career high with 32 for the Pistons, who used a huge third-quarter effort to pull away from the Sacramento Kings, in compiling a season-high points total in a 124-112 victory Wednesday night.

Despite a poor record, the Pistons (16-27) are only three games out of the eighth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons had a dismal 4-20 record on Feb. 1 when they lost their seventh straight. Since that loss to New Jersey, the Pistons are 12-7.

This is clearly a different team that started the season and it was evident against the Kings. The Pistons were behind by 16 midway through the second quarter, yet dominated the remainder of the game. They shot 58 percent, made eight of 13 3-pointers, and had 29 assists and only 10 turnovers in an up-tempo game.

"We've been coming together as a team," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "It's a collaboration in a lot of different areas at both ends of the floor. It's not one thing or one player, it's many different things."

There were many different things the Kings couldn't contend with at the defensive end, even though Detroit entered the game as the third-lowest scoring team in the NBA. Left open frequently on the perimeter, Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince (28 points) knocked down shots all game. The pair combined to shoot 7 of 9 from 3-point range.

Monroe got a measure of revenge after a three-point game three weeks ago against Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who had 26 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting. The Detroit center looked inspired throughout as he dominated inside.

In a battle of second-year centers, Monroe clearly got the best of Cousins in the rematch. Monroe made 15 of 20 shots, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three assists. Foul-plagued Cousins missed 10 of 15 shots and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

"Facing him does (motivate me)," said Monroe, who made all five shots in the fourth quarter when he scored 11 points. "We're cool with each other. Both of us are young and focused on being the best players we can be. Tonight I made sure when I got to the rim, I was finishing strong."

The Kings could not slow Stuckey in the third quarter. The veteran guard led the Pistons' 40-23 effort in the third, connecting on four 3-pointers and scoring 19 points as the Pistons built their lead to 97-81 entering the fourth. Stuckey scored a season-high 36 points in the earlier victory over the Kings.

"That guy has been playing great for the last two weeks," Kings coach Keith Smart said.

Detroit made 15 of 20 shots in the third quarter, including all five 3-point attempts, in posting their highest points total in a period this season. The Pistons never let the lead get below eight points in the fourth.

"In the first half, they were killing us in transition," said Stuckey, who had six assists, five rebounds, and matched his career high with four 3-pointers. "In the second half, we got stops. We knew we could score on that team, we just had to stop them from getting so many easy baskets."

Tyreke Evans scored 23 points for the Kings, but left the game and didn't return after a hard fall in the fourth quarter resulted in an injured left ankle. Jason Thompson had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Kings, losers of three straight games. Isaiah Thomas also had 21 points, and Francisco Garcia added 12.

"They had 40 points in the third quarter and you're not going to win a game if you give up 40 points," Thomas said. "Rodney Stuckey went off and we've got to know when guys are going off that we've got to stop a guy as a team, not just depend on one guy to stop them."

It was a rare road win for the Pistons, who are just 4-16 away from home. It was even more rare to get a West Coast victory, where Detroit hadn't won since picking up a victory Nov. 14, 2010 in Sacramento.

Detroit rookie point guard Brandon Knight had a solid game, contributing 10 points and 11 assists.

Stuckey almost singlehandedly gave the Pistons a double-digit lead in the third quarter when he scored 12 points in a span of 2:28. After converting on a three-point play, Stuckey hit three straight 3s, the final one giving Detroit an 86-71 lead with 3:58 left in the third.

Notes: Prince scored his 9,000th career point, tipping in his own missed shot in the game's opening minute. ... The Kings are 2-3 in the midst of their franchise-record nine-game homestand. ... Evans scored 10 points in the first quarter for the Kings, who shot 59 percent and led 32-25. ... Thompson made his first six shots and had nine rebounds in the opening quarter. ... Cousins picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and was quickly replaced.

Notebook: Pistons 124, Kings 112

Posted Thursday March 15, 2012 1:23AM

By James Ham, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Sacramento Kings got embarrassed on their home floor for the second night in a row. After leading by as many as 16 early, the Kings stopped moving the ball and the Detroit Pistons made them pay, beating the home team 124-112.

Rodney Stuckey led the way for the Pistons, scoring a game-high 35 points on 10-for-18 shooting. He wasn't the only Detroit player to have a field day against the Kings. Veteran Tayshaun Prince took advantage of the smaller Marcus Thornton, finishing with 28 points and seven assists, while Greg Monroe got the best of fellow 2010 draftee DeMarcus Cousins, dropping in a big-time 32-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Jason Thompson kept the Kings close, finishing with a big 21-point, 15-rebound night. He was one of the few bright spots for the Kings. Tyreke Evans chipped in 23 points, but took a bad step late and appeared to sprain his left ankle, adding injury to insult.

QUOTABLE: "You want to go out there and have fun, but obviously, these losses have been heart breaking. But everyone reacts to games differently, won or loss."
-- Jason Thompson when asked about the light-hearted mood in the Kings locker room following their second double digit loss at home in as many nights.

THE STAT: The combination of Stuckey, Prince and Monroe combined to score 93 points for the Pistons. The Pistons shot 58 percent from the field and 62 percent from behind the 3-point line. I could keep going if you would like.

TURNING POINT: The Kings went flat midway through the second quarter and the Pistons made them pay. The lack of energy carried over to the third quarter where the Kings were outscored 40-23.

QUOTABLE II: "It's going to be a process. It's a process with our team to get them to become good, complete basketball players. A lot of them aren't complete yet and we got to keep working and growing them into those situations."
-- Coach Keith Smart on the fouling issues that plagued the Kings in the second quarter.

HOT: Stuckey caught fire in the third quarter, scoring an incredible 19 points on the Kings in a variety of ways. The powerful guard went 6-for-7 from the field and nailed all four of his 3-point shots on his way to a 35-point night.

HOT II: Thompson scored his 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting. He also grabbed a game-high 15 boards on the evening and even threw in four assists for good measure.

GOOD MOVE: Pistons coach Lawrence Frank could do no wrong. His starters were ready and they did an incredible job finishing off the Kings tonight.

BAD MOVE: Thornton on Prince. Prince turned back the clock tonight, but he did so on a much smaller player. Coach Smart had plenty of options sitting on the bench and he didn't try any of them.

NOTABLE: Evans officially has a sprained left ankle. X-rays were negative and he's day-to-day for the Kings.

UP NEXT: For the Pistons, Friday @ Phoenix, Sunday @ L.A. Clippers, Wednesday @ Denver. For the Kings, Friday vs. Boston, Sunday vs. Minnesota, Tuesday vs. Memphis.

• Pistons: Macklin
• Kings: Honeycutt

• Pistons: Maxiell
• Kings: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #7 Kevin Fehr, #48 Scott Foster, #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 12173
• Duration: 2:08