The Pistons played the Kings away today, and although they were bombarded by their opponents for 45 points in the second quarter, they chased all the way, relying on the veterans to threaten to overtake the score, and played a 13-1 attack in the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter, including Cory Joseph's jump shot to beat the Kings at 133:131.
The Pistons had good news today as they brought back center Kelly Olynyk, who is returning from injury, and wing ace Jerami Grant, are also expected to return in the near future, although second-year defender Killian Hayes is out of the squad due to injury. Olynyk played an important role in his return to the squad today, starting from the bench to hand over 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Pistons were double digits behind their opponents in the early third quarter, but they relied on the team's three veterans Joseph, Olynyk and Rodney McGruder to join forces to take the lead after the third quarter. In the final quarter, King Terence Davis slashed 14 points to help the team return to the lead, De'Aaron Fox returned to the court to take over the game, two consecutive waves of offensive success, Davis made up another three-pointer, plus the Pistons Cade Cunningham made a full departure, the Kings had the winning ticket, and it seemed that they were about to close the victory.
But at this time, the Pistons suddenly staged a counterattack, Saddiq Bey and Kelly Olynyk hit consecutive three-point shots to close the score to a two-point difference, Sadiq Bay then fouled and equalized, and Joseph took the lead with a jump shot 25.9 seconds before the final game. The final hits, Davis and Fox, both missed, and the Pistons eventually reversed the Kings.
Pistons Sadiq Bay scored a team-high 30 points, Cory Joseph had 19 points and nine assists, and Cade Cunningham was in deep foul trouble, receiving four fouls in just 11 minutes in the first three quarters, scoring 13 points in just 20 minutes and McGrud 15 points.
For the Kings, Davis hit a career-high 35 points, with Fox having 27 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Harrison Barnes with 20 points and Marvin Bagley III with 17 points and nine rebounds.