The Kings' lack of shooting comes back to bite them hard and fall two games under .500
The Sacramento Kings are among the worst teams shooting the ball in the NBA, but have usually been able to make up for it offensively by scoring in the paint. Unfortunately, the Detroit Pistons are one of the biggest teams in the league in and feature plenty of shotblockers to shut down the paint. The Kings could not overcome and fell by a score of 95-90.
Taking a look at the field goal percentage stats will tell you all you need to know about this one. The team overall shot an atrocious 35% overall. Rudy Gay led the Kings with 20 points, but only shot 6/22 from the field. Darren Collison was virtually shut out for the night, scoring only three points on 1/10 shooting. Ben McLemore scored 14 points, but nine came on desperation threes when the game was well out of reach, only shooting 5/14 from the field. When the game was still on the line, he only had five points on 2/11 shooting. The only efficient King on the night was Carl Landry, who came off the bench with some much-needed punch, scoring 15 points on 5/8 shooting.
The Kings were out of their element style-wise the entire night. They shot 29 three pointers on the game; while the 37% percentage looks decent, again its buoyed by McLemore's garbage-time explosion. The Pistons' interior length was a big factor in the Kings shooting only 19 free throws on the game, registering 9 team blocks on the night and causing the Kings to shoot only 16/44 in the paint area. The Kings were also their usual sloppy selves with turnovers, committing 17, and the Pistons capitalized on the Kings' miscues and long rebounds to score in transition with 31 fast break points.
Josh Smith and Greg Monroe were a nightmare for the Kings all game long. Smith filled the boxscore with 21 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks. Smith's ability to create plays off the dribble and on the fastbreak was a game-breaker, and when his jumper is online he's a difficult player to guard. Monroe worked over and around the Kings' interior defense all night, scoring in the post to the tune of 24 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
The Kings are now in big time trouble in the Western Conference. Falling two games below .500, the team is in a free-fall in the standings after losing four of the last five games. If the Kings don't find some kind of spark without DeMarcus Cousins fast, they could be buried from playoff contention by the time January rolls around, which is really unfortunate given the team's promising start.
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