Pistons bow to Kings
100-85 trouncing is third straight defeat
March 7, 2005
BY PERRY A. FARRELL
[font=helvetica,arial]FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER[/font]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It has been nine years since the Pistons won a game in Sacramento. The way they played Sunday, it'll be nine more.
Ending their six-game western trip with three straight losses, the Pistons were humbled by the Kings, 100-85, before a national television audience and 17,317 fans at sold-out Arco Arena.
Detroit finished the trip 3-3. And it must be noted that two of the three teams the Pistons beat were under .500, whereas the three losses were against teams at least 12 games over .500 in the tough Western Conference: Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento.
"I wasn't pleased going 3-3 on this trip," said Tayshaun Prince. "We gave the Phoenix game away. It was a tough loss in Seattle. We had a chance to win, but, hey, we lost that game. Today, we played like we were ready to go home, at least the way it started. Obviously, we took a couple of steps back in this game."
Detroit did everything wrong a team could do, especially with the Kings missing three key players due to injuries: starting center Brad Miller (right calf contusion), starting guard Cuttino Mobley (lower back strain), and reserve guard Bobby Jackson (left wrist).
The Pistons got off to a bad start. They missed easy shots. They missed free throws. They got into early foul trouble. They didn't share the ball. They were slow on their defensive rotations. They didn't play with poise or passion. Their turnovers were mostly unforced and stupid.
The Pistons committed 15 turnovers, leading to 21 Sacramento points, and they were just 11-for-24 from the free throw line (45.8 percent).
Between them, Sacramento starting power forward Darius Songaila and reserve Kenny Thomas made 15 of 22 field goal attempts. Songaila scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting; Thomas was 8-for-13 and scored 19 points, matching Mike Bibby for team scoring honors. Bibby also had 11 assists, and Thomas had 10 rebounds. Center Brian Skinner had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his home debut. Thomas and Skinner came from Philadelphia in the Chris Webber trade.
"I just can't say enough about our team," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "Everybody who played gave us a lift."
Rasheed Wallace led the Pistons with 19 points, but he was just 8-for-20 from the field and had a difficult time containing the Sacramento power forwards.
"The problem was the pick and roll," said Detroit coach Larry Brown. "We started scrambling around. We didn't come out with any kind of energy early. They executed great. ... Bibby really controlled the game, especially in the first half. Tayshaun did a great job on Stojakovic. In the second half, we made a run and then had some real bad decisions and some real bad shots. We shot badly from the free throw line. We took a lot of shots that I thought we could've had later in the shot clock. We had about three or four breaks where we had a chance to take the lead and didn't get anything. We took two horrible shots in the process. You can't keep coming back and coming back on the road."
Songaila started the inside attack with eight of his 10 first-half points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Thomas scorched the lifeless Pistons for 15 points, with eight straight coming in the final 2:30, as the Kings roared to a 55-46 halftime lead.
Songaila picked up his fourth foul early in the third, but the bad news was that Thomas was his replacement.
Detroit's forwards struggled at both ends in the first half, but a floater by Prince and a baseline dunk by Rasheed Wallace got the Pistons within five, 55-50, early in the third period. When Chauncey Billups hit a triple, Detroit seemed poised to make a run, but the Pistons imploded for the rest of the third. The Kings went on a 15-3 run, getting threes from Maurice Evans and Peja Stojakovic, to increase their lead to 70-56.
The Pistons made one more run at the Kings early in the fourth quarter, getting to within 76-72 on a jump shot by Carlos Arroyo. But Sacramento streaked ahead -- abetted by two Detroit turnovers and two fouls -- and took an 85-74 lead with 5:47 to play.
100-85 trouncing is third straight defeat
March 7, 2005
BY PERRY A. FARRELL
[font=helvetica,arial]FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER[/font]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It has been nine years since the Pistons won a game in Sacramento. The way they played Sunday, it'll be nine more.
Ending their six-game western trip with three straight losses, the Pistons were humbled by the Kings, 100-85, before a national television audience and 17,317 fans at sold-out Arco Arena.
Detroit finished the trip 3-3. And it must be noted that two of the three teams the Pistons beat were under .500, whereas the three losses were against teams at least 12 games over .500 in the tough Western Conference: Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento.
"I wasn't pleased going 3-3 on this trip," said Tayshaun Prince. "We gave the Phoenix game away. It was a tough loss in Seattle. We had a chance to win, but, hey, we lost that game. Today, we played like we were ready to go home, at least the way it started. Obviously, we took a couple of steps back in this game."
Detroit did everything wrong a team could do, especially with the Kings missing three key players due to injuries: starting center Brad Miller (right calf contusion), starting guard Cuttino Mobley (lower back strain), and reserve guard Bobby Jackson (left wrist).
The Pistons got off to a bad start. They missed easy shots. They missed free throws. They got into early foul trouble. They didn't share the ball. They were slow on their defensive rotations. They didn't play with poise or passion. Their turnovers were mostly unforced and stupid.
The Pistons committed 15 turnovers, leading to 21 Sacramento points, and they were just 11-for-24 from the free throw line (45.8 percent).
Between them, Sacramento starting power forward Darius Songaila and reserve Kenny Thomas made 15 of 22 field goal attempts. Songaila scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting; Thomas was 8-for-13 and scored 19 points, matching Mike Bibby for team scoring honors. Bibby also had 11 assists, and Thomas had 10 rebounds. Center Brian Skinner had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his home debut. Thomas and Skinner came from Philadelphia in the Chris Webber trade.
"I just can't say enough about our team," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "Everybody who played gave us a lift."
Rasheed Wallace led the Pistons with 19 points, but he was just 8-for-20 from the field and had a difficult time containing the Sacramento power forwards.
"The problem was the pick and roll," said Detroit coach Larry Brown. "We started scrambling around. We didn't come out with any kind of energy early. They executed great. ... Bibby really controlled the game, especially in the first half. Tayshaun did a great job on Stojakovic. In the second half, we made a run and then had some real bad decisions and some real bad shots. We shot badly from the free throw line. We took a lot of shots that I thought we could've had later in the shot clock. We had about three or four breaks where we had a chance to take the lead and didn't get anything. We took two horrible shots in the process. You can't keep coming back and coming back on the road."
Songaila started the inside attack with eight of his 10 first-half points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Thomas scorched the lifeless Pistons for 15 points, with eight straight coming in the final 2:30, as the Kings roared to a 55-46 halftime lead.
Songaila picked up his fourth foul early in the third, but the bad news was that Thomas was his replacement.
Detroit's forwards struggled at both ends in the first half, but a floater by Prince and a baseline dunk by Rasheed Wallace got the Pistons within five, 55-50, early in the third period. When Chauncey Billups hit a triple, Detroit seemed poised to make a run, but the Pistons imploded for the rest of the third. The Kings went on a 15-3 run, getting threes from Maurice Evans and Peja Stojakovic, to increase their lead to 70-56.
The Pistons made one more run at the Kings early in the fourth quarter, getting to within 76-72 on a jump shot by Carlos Arroyo. But Sacramento streaked ahead -- abetted by two Detroit turnovers and two fouls -- and took an 85-74 lead with 5:47 to play.
