The Sacramento Kings entered Sunday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons looking to tackle a feat the franchise hasn’t done since 2004 — go on a six-game winning streak. The excitement about this group can heard be heard all around Sacramento as fans piled into the Golden 1 Center to watch this young, fast, winning team take the floor in a matchup that seemingly felt as a “sure-win” to continue their win-streak.

Unfortunately, the Pistons had other plans. Rookie Jaden Ivey showcased every bit of why many had him pegged to go No. 4 to the Kings. He was extremely fast in transition and was able to knock down four open 3-pointers en route to finishing the game with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Sacramento’s defense just never came out of the locker room. The team gave up 102 points by the end of third quarter. De’Aaron Fox (33 points and 7 assists), Harrison Barnes (27 points and 9 rebounds) and Domantas Sabonis (15 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists) kept the Kings in striking distance all game, but it just seemed they couldn’t get a single stop on the defensive end of the ball.

With time dwindling down, the energy for the Kings came from Malik Monk. Or should I say from the ejection of Malik Monk. After a big transition dunk and foul, Monk would bump into the chest of Killian Hayes as he was screaming to the crowd. That bump would lead to a taunting technical foul (his second tech of the night) and an automatic ejection.

Malik Monk was ejected from the game after this play. pic.twitter.com/q8isxbQcwy

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 21, 2022

The Kings were building momentum at that point, and the fans' loud cheers shook the arena as the purple and black began locking in defensively and knocking down big shot after big shot.

After allowing 30-plus points in the previous three quarters, the Kings held the Pistons to 27 fourth quarter points while scoring 35 points of their own. So in ugly and exhausting fashion, Sacramento did extend their win-streak to six games with a hard-fought, 137-129 victory. They now head out on a very testy three-game road trip, starting with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, Nov. 22.