Man, I wish there was a picture of Buddy Hield’s game-winning three. We’ve been treated to a Bogdan Bogdanovic buzzer beater against the Los Angeles Lakers and now this. With a loss, the Kings would’ve dropped to 23-23 but now they’re 24-22 thanks to Hield catching fire (and whatever is hotter than fire). Hield scored 15 points on threes from different angles and one leg and an and-1 after being bumped from behind on a jumpshot. What a win.

The first quarter was all Blake Griffin. He already had 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Willie Cauley-Stein was called for two fouls by the 10 minute mark so Harry Giles came in, but he eventually picked up two fouls, too. The Kings tried getting Nemanja Bjelica going early with two good looks from three, but they didn’t fall. Bjelica did get points on a driving dunk. Buddy Hield led Sacramento with nine points on 4-4 shooting along with three rebounds (one offensive that led to his own layup), an assist and a block. Kings trailed 30-26 after one.

The beginning of the second quarter started awful for Sacramento. Even with Griffin on the bench, the Kings went over four minutes without scoring and they were getting beat on defense. Luke Kennard had seven points off the bench. They were down by double-digits for the majority of the quarter but Hield’s scoring was keeping this manageable. Sacramento did fight back to make it a six point game after De’Aaron Fox converted the and-1 layup. Hield led Sacramento with 20 points on 8-9 shooting, while Griffin led Detroit with 22 on 7-14 shooting. It was 57-51 to Detroit at the end of the first half. Sacramento was 3-12 from deep.

Not much happened in the quarter, with the Pistons outscoring Sacramento 25-23 and leading by eight at the end of the quarter. Griffin’s drama and antics were the main storyline early as he went up to four fouls and finally slowed down his complaining. The Kings made some mini runs and came as close as three points to tie the game, but it went back up to 10 after. Kennard had 16 points on 6-10 shooting off the bench. Griffin led all scorers with 27. Hield still had 20 as he went 0-3 in the quarter and Fox had 13 on 4-12 shooting. No one else had over double-digits in points as the Kings trailed 82-74.

The way the beginning of the fourth quarter was going, it seemed like it would end in another road loss to a team they should’ve beaten. For every Kings basket, Detroit had an answer. Until late, Buddy Hield caught fire. He didn’t score in the third, yet scored 15 in a matter of minutes including the game-winning three on ONE leg for the Kings win!

Best Players

Buddy Hield is really the lone wolf tonight, but some players did help out. Hield led Sacramento with 35 points on 13-22 shooting and 7-9 from three. SEVEN OF NINE! He even grabbed nine rebounds with three assists and a block. Incredible.

De’Aaron Fox was 4-13 from the floor, but finished with 14 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and a steal.

Marvin Bagley was tasked with the duty of slowing down Griffin in the fourth quarter and had his moments (there is no stopping Griffin). Bagley finished with 14 points, two rebounds, two steals and a block.

Willie Money Watch

In 24 minutes, Willie finished with 12 points on 6-8 shooting with six rebounds and two assists. He didn’t have the eye-popping numbers but made some good plays late in the game.

Notable Stats

Hield made seven of the Kings’ 10 makes from three.

Kings were out-rebounded 46-39, but won the assist battle 30-21.

Thirteen turnovers for the Kings, 17 for the Pistons

One angry Griffin

The Game in a thank you

Today marks one year since I joined Sactown Royalty and I just want to quickly thank the incredible staff here and to all the fans of course. I hope you guys enjoy the work I put out. Also, thank you to Chavano Rainier Hield for making this day AWESOME!

Next Game

Sacramento goes to Brooklyn next to take on the Nets this Monday at 12:30 PM. Yeah, I hate the timing, too.