Has Zach LaVine ever had a bad game against Detroit?
This was a tough loss. The Detroit Pistons let an 18-point lead slip away and fell to the Sacramento Kings 127-117. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combined for 81 points and Domantas Sabonis had his 10th triple-double of the season. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 35 points.
The Pistons built their 18-point with 4:35 left in the second quarter. It was a really fun first half, where we saw Detroit take a 72-62 lead after the second quarter. Duren was on triple-double watch, and the Pistons had no problem finding offense. Those struggles started in the third, and a Zach LaVine buzzer-beater at the end of the quarter put the Kings up 97-94 to give them the lead for the first time in the game.
That’s when Zach LaVine decided to go nuclear – he hit four straight threes to start the fourth quarter, and Sacramento held the lead the rest of the game. LaVine finished with 43 points, DeRozan had 37 points, and Sabonis added a triple-double to beat Detroit 127-117.
Maybe I’m salty, but it’s difficult watching Sacramento’s offense. There are some dribble hand-offs around Sabonis, but there’s a lot of iso-ball for LaVine and DeRozan. Demar hit a lot of tough midrange shots from the post, but he also got a lot of generous calls as he foul-baited on pump fakes. I’m also tired of seeing Zach hit “heat check” threes against Detroit every game.
Cade did his best to keep Detroit in it. He finished with 35 points and five assists. He had an efficient night with 21 shots and 11 free throw attempts. Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren had strong first halves, but foul trouble limited their minutes in the second. Vets Tim Hardaway Jr and Malik Beasley combined to shoot 11-for-30 (37%) from the field, and Detroit missed the extra rebounding from Tobias Harris as we await his return from injury.
With the playoffs starting soon, let’s hope Detroit is getting the bad losses out of the way now. There are three more games left, starting with a potential playoff opponent in the New York Knicks on Thursday, followed by a home-and-home against the Milwaukee Bucks to end the season.