Brandon Jennings leads streaking Pistons over Kings

64. 95. 84. Final. 114

A. Jennings often did his own thing, but that was no problem tonight. He finished with 35 points, matching his Pistons high, on 14-of-21 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Even when breaking from the set offense, he wasn’t selfish. Jennings added seven assists with just two turnovers. Jennings also fared pretty well when defending bigger players after switches.. PG. Pistons. BRANDON JENNINGS

Monroe’s struggled to assert himself down low defensively, and his help defense left something to be desired. Yet, he still finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 11 rebounds. His style of play breeds efficiency. He also did a nice job on DeMarcus Cousins, taking primary responsibility for that tough assignment when both he and Andre Drummond shared the floor.. PF. Pistons. GREG MONROE. C+

ANDRE DRUMMOND. A-. Drummond too defended Cousins well when Monroe sat, but Drummond’s on-ball defense left something to be desired in other matchups. At least he rose to the occasion in the biggest one. Drummond was decisive in his post moves, and even if they didn’t yield positive results, his progress is evident. It helps that he excelled in all his usual ways to get 15 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.. C. Pistons

B+. Caldwell-Pope swarmed the passing lanes, getting a couple steals that led directly to easy baskets. He had nine points and four rebounds despite his cold 3-point shooting (1-for-5). It’s nice to see a player whose effort is not tied to his shot falling.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE

Pistons. KYLE SINGLER. F. Singler shot just 1-for-7, and for the second straight game, he sat the final 16 minutes. As Brady noted the other day, Stan Van Gundy now has the depth to shorten Singler’s leash when the forward’s shot isn’t falling.. SF

JODIE MEEKS. B+. Meeks (13 points on 5-of-12 shooting) matched Drummond as a team-best +17, and that was not a coincidence. Despite his box-score stats being only moderately impressive, Meeks was full of energy, and his action on both ends sparked Detroit.. SG. Pistons

Augustin (six points and five rebounds) had a nice, solid game.. PG. Pistons. D.J. AUGUSTIN. B

B. Tolliver (six points on 2-of-4 shooting, all from beyond the arc, in seven minutes) was better when shots found him than when he was seeking shots.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER

C+. Butler (eight points on 2-of-6 shooting, including 1-of-5 from beyond the arc) hit some key jumpers in the fourth quarter to prevent Sacramento’s comeback from getting serious.. SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER

D+. Jerebko played very physically, which worked both for and against him at times. He had three points, three rebounds, three turnovers and four fouls.. PF. Pistons. JONAS JEREBKO

C. Anthony showed good effort in eight minutes, which is about all that’s fair to ask of him.. C. Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY

Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. A. The Pistons outscored Sacramento by 12 when using mostly starters and by seven when using mostly reserves. Van Gundy has options, and he’s making the most of them. The Pistons have now won five straight for the first time since 2009 and five straight by at least 10 points for the first time since 2007. The schedule gets much tougher with the Spurs, Mavericks and Hawks up next. We’ll get a much grasp this week of where Van Gundy has this team.. Head Coach