The road has been a nightmare for the Sacramento Kings this season. Going into Tuesday night's road game against the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento had the second-worst road record in the NBA at 1-12.
Throughout the game there where ups and downs for everyone involved. The Kings hit 5-of-six three-point shots in the first quarter only for their bench to come out cold in the second quarter.
The Pistons took advantage by taking a 58-48 lead in the first half but not before forward Charlie Villanueva leveled point guard Isaiah Thomas on a lay-up attempt less than a second after the shot clock expired.
Although Thomas retaliated, he stayed in the game as Villanueva was given a flagrant foul two and ejected.
The Kings couldn't make any ground on the Pistons as the night included an injury sustained by referee Leroy Richardson, which he came back from and a technical foul by Pistons athletic trainer Mike Abdenour.
The Kings trailed by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter until Jimmer Fredette sparked a 20-5 to bring the Kings to within one point of the Pistons' lead with 3:04 left in the game.
Down three points in the last minute of the game, the Kings tried to force the Pistons to miss but forward Austin Daye's three-pointer sealed the game for Detroit and sent the Kings to a 103-97 loss.
DeMarcus Cousins notched his third-straight double-double for the Kings with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three steals and Jason Thompson finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Fredette scored 13 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Greg Monroe finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons and Brandon Knight added 20 points.
The loss tied the Kings (11-20) with the Washington Wizards for the NBA's worst road record of 1-13. Kings coach Keith Smart said his team was slow against the Pistons (12-22) tonight:
"We were stagnant, we played too tight, didn't have proper spacing on the floor and that kind of separated the game right there. So, it was really tough playing the group that was on the floor. They didn't have the spacing and the shooting that was needed on the floor."
The Kings will continue their four-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at 4 p.m. PST.
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