Griffin shines, Pistons cruise to 106-90 win over Sacramento Kings

Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons showed signs of life Monday night in Sacramento. Griffin’s 26 points helped the Pistons roll the Kings 106-90.

The Pistons ran into the right team at the right time to right the ship Monday night.

Blake Griffin led the Pistons to a 106-90 win over the Kings in Sacramento for his first road win as a Piston. Griffin finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Pistons’ backcourt shot the ball well against a young Kings lineup. Ish Smith scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Reggie Bullock had 17 points including three 3-pointers.

The Kings guards were their primary scorers in the loss. Buddy Hield had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. The rookie, De’Aaron Fox added 16 points and four assists.

The Pistons and Kings are two of the lowest scoring teams in the NBA. Therefore it was no surprise when Monday night’s game was ugly. The score was just 25-21 after the first quarter of play.

The game was uncomfortably close for most of the first half. Both teams struggled to shoot the ball from outside minus Griffin and Hield. The first half ended in a 44-44 tie.

“From the end of the third quarter to the fourth, I thought we were really good,” said Stan Van Gundy after the game.

Van Gundy said he was happy with the defense as well as Griffin’s play during this rough stretch of games for the team. Griffin is averaging 24 points, six rebounds and six assists over his last eight games.

Van Gundy also praised the Kings’ ageless wonder, Vince Carter, who had a breakaway dunk early on in the game. Carter is 41 years old.

The Pistons pulled away in the 4th quarter Monday when the Kings suffered from a 0-for-10 stretch of shooting from the floor.

Andre Drummond struggled to get on the scoreboard. Drummond finished with just four points but added 16 rebounds and three blocks to the winning effort.

The Miami Heat (38-33) defeated the Nuggets in double overtime Monday night. Therefore the Pistons now trail the Milwaukee Bucks (37-33) by 5 1/2 games for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons have two games remaining in this season-long road trip during which they are 1-3 after Monday’s win. There are 12 regular season games remaining for them to make a run.

Because of the team’s limited practice schedule during this trip, the status of Reggie Jackson‘s return remains unknown. The earliest the Jackson could return is Wednesday, April 4 at home against the 76ers.

The Pistons’ next stop is Phoenix to take on the Suns (19-52) on Tuesday.