Kings end skid with road win at Detroit, 110-107
Harrison Barnes flexed and howled to his teammates after burying a big 3-pointer to help the Kings avoid their longest losing streak since 1998 with a much-needed win over the Detroit Pistons.
De’aaron Fox scored 27 points, Richaun Holmes recorded a double-double and Barnes made big baskets down the stretch to lead the Kings to a 110-107 victory over the Pistons on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena. Kings coach Luke Walton and his players breathed a collective sigh of relief after ending their nine-game losing streak with a win on the last stop of a five-game road trip.
“I’m really proud of the group,” Walton said. “Not necessarily a pretty game or a clean game, but a hard-fought, stick-together, grind-it-out, end-of-afive-game, seven-night road trip, and really just fighting. I think that’s how we won. We just grinded it out.”
Barnes had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Kings (1320), who hadn’t won since beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 7. Holmes had 19 points and 17 rebounds with two blocked shots, his 10th doubledouble of the season and his third in the past four games.
Marvin Bagley III added 19 points on 9-of13 shooting with eight rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica came off the bench to score eight points in the fourth quarter after sitting out the last three games.
“We were struggling to make open looks, so I was really pleased with Belly’s ability to stay ready and step in like that and help us out on a night that we really needed it,” Walton said.
Jerami Grant had 30 points and seven rebounds for the Pistons (9-24). Rookie Saddiq Bey and Dennis Smith Jr. scored 17 points apiece.
The nine-game losing streak was the Kings’ longest since 2009-10.
They have not lost 10 in a row since the 1997-98 season, when they set a Sacramento-era franchise record with a 12-game losing streak from March 9-April 3, 1998. The all-time franchise record belongs to the Cincinnati Royals, who lost 14 in a row in 1959-60 and 197172.
Sacramento needed a win in the worst way against a bad Detroit basketball team that came in with the second-worst record in the NBA, but the Kings knew it wouldn’t be easy. They were on the second night of a back-to-back for the second time in six days, playing their fifth game in seven nights.
The Kings were also missing one of their best players after Rookie of the Year candidate Tyrese Haliburton was ruled out with a sore left calf. Hassan Whiteside and Jabari
Parker were still out due to health and safety protocols, adding to the team’s depth issues.
Despite the adversity, Sacramento produced a much better defensive effort after giving up 140 points to the NBA’S lowestscoring team in Thursday’s 140-121 loss to the New York Knicks. The Kings outscored the Pistons 16-4 over the first four minutes and went up 27-11 on an alley-oop dunk by Holmes.
The lead dwindled as fatigue set in and the
Kings’ lack of depth became a factor. Backups Cory Joseph, Daquan Jeffries and Kyle Guy combined to make just 1 of 12 from the field. The Kings were still up 55-52 at the half, but they ended up getting outshot 47.6% to 38.3%.
The Pistons went up
71-70 on a basket by Smith and led 80-75 at the end of the third quarter. They stretched the lead to eight on a 3-pointer by Svi Mykhailiuk early in the fourth before the Kings came back to take a 97-96 lead on two free throws by Barnes.