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Tonight marks the start of a five game road trip for the Kings, and the beginning of a very road heavy schedule. 19 of Sacramento’s next 26 games are on the road where the Kings have gone 8-7 overall. This could be a make or break portion of the season for the Kings. Last year they were one of the only teams in the Western Conference to finish with an above .500 road record and it helped carry them to the 3 seed. They’ll have to start by taking care of business against teams like Detroit tonight however.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Tuesday, January 9th, 4:00 PM PT
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
This is the first time the Kings have played the Pistons this season but last season the Kings won both games in the season series.
Three in the Key
No Time to Waste
The Western Conference is incredibly tight with only a few games separating the Kings from both the 1st seed and being out of the playoff picture entirely. Sacramento has had some bad losses of late, getting blown out by the Pelicans (again), dropping a home game to Charlotte (who they’ll see tomorrow) and getting blown out by a young Portland squad a couple weeks ago. This team has been inconsistent all year despite their record and with the season almost halfway done, they’ll need to refocus and get more disciplined. The Pistons sport a 3-33 record and will be without Cade Cunningham, one of the few bright lights in their bleak season. But the Kings can’t just take this Pistons team for granted. Nobody likes losing, and the Pistons have been playing hard of late. The Kings need to make a statement, especially after how they got manhandled by New Orleans on Sunday. Also, with a back to back in Charlotte tonight, getting out to a big lead and being able to rest some of your players would be helpful.
How does the Fox play?
De’Aaron Fox is in the midst of the worst stretch of an otherwise incredible season. Over his last four games, he is averaging just 18 points on 36.4% from the field and 22.7% from three. There hasn’t been any indication from him or the team that he’s playing hurt but something is clearly off as this isn’t the Fox we’ve seen for most of the season. The Kings offense has struggled as a result, and the Kings need their best player to either get out of his funk or if he is hurting, let the team know so he can rest up and recuperate.
Get to the Line
The Kings have been an awful free throw shooting team this season but that doesn’t mean they should avoid getting to the line as much as they can. The Pistons foul the most out of any team in the league and allow their opponents to shoot almost 28 free throws a game. The Kings should take advantage and attack whenever they can. I think this would be a good game for Harrison Barnes to be in attack mode as he’s one of Sacramento’s best at drawing fouls over the last few years aside from Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
Prediction
The Kings wash the taste of Sunday’s loss with a triumphant start to the road trip, beating the Pistons by 30+ while also not allowing them to top 100 points on the other end.
Kings 127, Pistons 97
Fan Predictions
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