The Kings led 48-32 at one point in the second quarter, but Detroit stormed back to retake a one-point lead at halftime and then beat up the Kings 40-23 in the third to take a commanding lead. Three Pistons scored at least 28 points, with Rodney Stuckey dropping 35 and Greg Monroe springing for 32. The Kings were paced by Tyreke Evans, who had 23 on 9-17 shooting. Jason Thompson had a strong performance with 21 points on 10-12 shooting and 15 rebounds; Marcus Thornton struggled from the floor, but had a team-high six assists.

Back to the first paragraph: I'm not blaming Smart — far from it. I'm just noting that when you have a terrible team, it doesn't matter if you have a lame duck coach or not. You're still going to lose a lot, and at times badly. This is a terrible team. End of story.