The Sacramento Kings (45-35) rallied past the Detroit Pistons (39-41) for a 127-117 win on Monday, April 7, behind a combined 80-point explosion from Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
LaVine led all scorers with 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, while DeRozan added 37 in the Kings’ third straight victory. The win helps Sacramento maintain its grip on ninth place in the Western Conference, now one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks in the race for home court in the play-in tournament.
Domantas Sabonis notched yet another triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. LaVine hit five of six from beyond the arc in the fourth, including three straight triples to open the quarter that gave the Kings the lead for good.
Cade Cunningham paced the Pistons with 35 points, while Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 19. Detroit has now dropped four of its last five games and is slipping further out of playoff contention in the East.
The Pistons had built a commanding 66-48 lead midway through the second quarter after a 29-10 run, but the Kings closed the gap to 72-62 by halftime behind a scoring surge from DeRozan. Sacramento reclaimed the lead at 97-94 on a LaVine triple at the buzzer to end the third quarter and never looked back.
Kings: Sacramento played without Keegan Murray (back) and Jake LaRavia (thumb), and lost Malik Monk to a left calf injury in the first quarter. Despite the absences, they shot 51.6% from the field and 40.7% from deep.
Pistons: Detroit needed four made threes to break its single-season franchise record but came up short, finishing 13-for-39 from long range. Their defense allowed the Kings to score 65 second-half points on over 55% shooting.
Sacramento returns home to host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, April 9. Detroit will look to bounce back when it hosts the New York Knicks on Thursday, April 10.
