{"id":14702,"date":"2021-11-15T18:39:26","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T02:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingsherald.com\/?p=14702"},"modified":"2024-04-26T09:37:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T16:37:18","slug":"kings-129-pistons-107-thank-you-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingsherald.com\/articles\/kings-129-pistons-107-thank-you-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings 129, Pistons 107: Thank you, Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kings walked into Detroit tonight with a fresh round of Kangz drama to chew on. Hours before tipoff, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Shams Charania dropped a new report on Luke Walton’s job security,<\/a> and to make a long story short, he is once again on the ‘hot seat’ following the Kings’ recent 4-game losing streak. Nothing like a little added pressure when you’re already reeling and need a win in the worst way.<\/p>\n

Luke Walton started Chimezie Metu at forward over Moe Harkless for the 2nd straight game. Harkless actually fell completely out of the rotation tonight. That shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve watched him play basketball this season, but it’s a change to Walton’s rotation worth noting.\u00a0I’d imagine that relying on a decent game from an unproven young player like Metu is not optimal when your job is seemingly in jeopardy, but that’s who Walton trusted in this moment, and Monte McNair hasn’t exactly given him a ton of alternative options.<\/p>\n

The Kings jumped out to a quick 20-10 lead, and Metu made Walton look smart early. Chimezie dropped 7 efficient points and 6 rebounds in his first 8 minute stint, and to make matters easier for Sacramento, the Pistons could neither score, or pass the ball without turning it over.<\/p>\n

Marvin Bagley (!) made a notable appearance for the first time since the 2nd game of the season. He looked rusty, but the Kings closed out the first quarter with a comfortable 32-12 lead.<\/p>\n

The domination continued for Sacramento throughout the 2nd quarter. The Pistons put together one little<\/em> run here that was quickly extinguished with more effortless scoring by the Kings. It was the closest the Pistons ever came to making this an interesting game.<\/p>\n

Davion Mitchell, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson all played well off the bench and extended the lead that the starters built. I don’t want to completely downplay the beating Sacramento put on Detroit in the first half, but the Kings could’ve played Sim Bhullar and they still would’ve carried a double-digit lead into the 3rd quarter.<\/p>\n

The Kings even managed to get through the 3rd and 4th quarters without disaster. De’Aaron Fox got his game going here, playing under control, pushing the ball, and knocking down some mid-range jumpers. The shooting percentage isn’t going to show it, but he was better tonight.<\/p>\n

Detroit played better from the 3rd quarter on and more less matched the Kings in 2nd half scoring, but when you’re trying to erase a 20+ point deficit, simply score matching isn’t going to cut it. And it didn’t. The Kings cruised to a 129-107 victory in one of the easiest games they’ll play all season.<\/p>\n

I’ve got to give some credit where credit is due. I was skeptical of Luke Walton’s decision to start Metu tonight, but I thought he played a nice role player game from start to finish. Metu has always struck me as a mistake-prone player with offensive potential, but questionable shot selection. Well, he kept those mistakes to a minimum, and his shot quality was solid. Metu finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-11 shooting from the field to go along with a few nice defensive plays as the cherry on top.<\/p>\n

There really isn’t much else to say about this one. The Pistons had no answer for anyone on the Kings roster. Harrison Barnes was the only player who didn’t perform to his peak, but all of Richaun Holmes, Tyrese Haliburton, De’Aaron Fox, Chimezie Metu, Buddy Hield, Davion Mitchell, and Tristan Thompson had good moments. You could say that playing the Pistons was just what the basketball doctor ordered for this team right now.<\/p>\n

I’m not popping champagne after a blowout win over the Pistons, but the Kings dominated here. There is no other way to put it. The Timberwolves are up next on Wednesday, and while that isn’t going to be the strongest test, either, the Pistons make them look like the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. It should be more competitive than this one.<\/p>\n

Kings win a game they absolutely needed, and Luke Walton lives to coach another day in Sacramento.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kings walked into Detroit tonight with a fresh round of Kangz drama to chew on. Hours before tipoff, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Shams Charania dropped a new report on Luke Walton’s job security, and to make a long story short, he is once again on the ‘hot seat’ following the Kings’ recent 4-game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24],"tags":[714,32,643,31,40,418],"coauthors":[308],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKings 129, Pistons 107: Thank you, Detroit - The Kings Herald<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kingsherald.com\/articles\/kings-129-pistons-107-thank-you-detroit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kings 129, Pistons 107: Thank you, Detroit - The Kings Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kings walked into Detroit tonight with a fresh round of Kangz drama to chew on. 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