Detroit Pistons hope to salvage season, visit Sacramento Kings
By Ryan Love
The Detroit Pistons’ free fall continues in Sacramento Monday night. Stan Van Gundy looks to right the ship against De’Aaron Fox and the Kings.
The Pistons have the chance to turn things around for a final push toward the playoffs starting Monday night in Sacramento.
The Pistons (30-39) are 6 1/2 games behind the Miami Heat (37-33) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With only 13 games remaining this season, Stan Van Gundy needs a miraculous turnaround out of his team.
Luckily, the Kings are one of a handful of teams in the NBA a struggling team should want to face when in need of a win.
The Kings (23-48) are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Pistons won 108-99 in their last matchup with the Kings in Detroit in November. Former-Piston Avery Bradley led the team with 24 points.
Monday night, a much different team will be visiting the Kings for this matchup.
Point guard, Ish Smith, will match up against the Kings’ De’Aaaron Fox. Smith has the speed to stay in front of Fox from the start. Fox is averaging just over 11 points and four assists per game.
The Pistons are still waiting for a return from Reggie Jackson as they are still mathematically alive in the playoff race. They had a 0.6 percent chance to make the playoffs Monday morning, according to ESPN’s NBA BPI Playoff Odds.
According to Rod Beard of the Detroit News, Jackson is getting closer to a return to action:
Jackson did some 4-on-4 full-court work today and said there was only a little soreness. https://t.co/RniHlcTrus
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) March 18, 2018
If the Pistons are eliminated from playoff contention before Jackson’s return, there are no signs that say Stan Van Gundy would hold him out of playing in their remaining games.
However, Jackson’s absence has little effect on Monday’s matchups between the frontcourt players.
Center, Andre Drummond, is coming off of a great game in the Pistons’ 100-87 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday. Drummond 18 points and 22 rebounds in a loss that Van Gundy all but blamed on the officials.
SVG gets his money's worth RT Pistons coach Van Gundy blasts refs after loss at Portland https://t.co/ZNb4iopgWd via @freep
— VinceEllis (@AlabamaScribe56) March 18, 2018
The NBA fined Van Gundy $15,000 for his criticism of the officials.
Drummond and Blake Griffin will do battle with the ageless Zach Randolph as well as the likes of Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere. Randolph and Cauley-Stein lead the Kings in points (14.7) and rebounding (6.9) per game respectively.
These matchups should favor the Pistons across the board. However, there is no guarantee this team will figure it out before this season ends next month.
Monday night’s matchup in Sacramento tips off at 10 PM EST.