SACRAMENTO — Nothing like a little home cooking to get back on the winning track. The Sacramento kings handled their business Thursday evening at Golden 1 Center, pounding the Detroit Pistons for a wire-to-wire 112-102 win.
The final score doesn’t tell the entire story. Sacramento led by as many as 23 points and the Kings held a double-digit lead from the 8:25 mark of the second quarter on.
Coach Dave Joerger received contributions across the board as they bounced back from a very disappointing loss on Tuesday to the cellar-dwelling Phoenix Suns.
The win jumped Sacramento back to the .500 mark at 21-21. Here are the positives and the negatives from the loss.
POSITIVE
Centers Gone Wild
Willie Cauley-Stein set the tempo early and Harry Giles played big minutes as well, as the Kings’ two centers worked hard to keep Andre Drummond, the NBA’s leading rebounder, off the glass.
Drummond finished the night with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven turnovers for the Pistons. He looked frustrated for much of the night and did most of his damage after the game was decided.
Cauley-Stein put in a complete effort for the Kings, finishing the evening with 14 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks. He was active and focused on slowing the Pistons All-Star from the opening tip.
Giles came off the bench to add 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and two steals. If Sacramento can get anywhere near this kind of production from this tandem going forward, they’re going to win a lot of games.
[RELATED: Dave Joerger thrilled with Harry Giles’ impact]
POSITIVE
Balanced Attack
Seven players scored in double figures for Sacramento. Buddy Hield led the way with a quiet 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, but Sacramento shot an impressive 51.2 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from long range.
The second unit made a huge impact on the final score, combining to score 48 of the team’s 112 points. Giles led the bench scoring with 14, but Joerger got plenty of solid contributions across the board.
Yogi Ferrell chipped in 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and Marvin Bagley added 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
NEGATIVE
Trouble with the Turnovers
For the second straight game, the Kings finished the night with an unacceptable amount of mistakes. It wasn’t a complete breakdown, like the 26-turnover game against the Suns on Tuesday, but 20 turnovers Thursday night is more than enough to cause concern.
Giles led the way with five gaffs, including four in the fourth quarter when the game out of reach and turned sloppy. Eight other Kings turned it over at least once, with five of those players giving it away two or more times.
If this is a trend with this team, that’s an issue. They’ve done a nice job playing a crazy pace and not turning the ball over all season.
POSITIVE
Crashing the Boards
Sacramento isn’t a great rebounding team, but against the Pistons, you wouldn’t have guseed that. They boxed out and rebounded as a team Thursday evening, winning the battle of the boards 47-37.
Detroit isn’t a great rebounding team, but they came in ranked ninth in the league on the offensive end. The Kings held them below their average of 11.8 offensive boards per game, limiting Drummond and Co. to just nine offensive rebounds and six second-chance points.
Pistons star Blake Griffin didn’t make the trip and might have impacted the overall rebounding totals, but then again maybe he wouldn’t have. The All-Star forward grabbed a total of two rebounds over his two previous games in a combined 75 minutes of action.
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