How the Detroit Pistons can take advantage of struggling Sacramento Kings

The second of five games in this road trip takes place tonight inside Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Veteran guards Russell Westbrook and Demar Derozan look forward to greeting head coach JB Bickerstaff's 23-6 Detroit Pistons.

This is the first matchup of the season between the two teams. The season has been an underwhelming one for the Sacramento Kings. Center Domantas Sabonis went down with injury earlier this season and won't be set to return until January or February.

Sunday's win against Kevin Durant's Houston Rockets was fun for the team but it'll be one of few bright spots going forward. The Kings have seven wins in 29 regular season games and run into an extremely hot Detroit Pistons team. Detroit is coming off of win against the Portland Trailblazers last night that saw Portland almost erase a 21-point deficit before Detroit extinguished the fire late in the fourth. Detroit beat Portland 110 to 102.

Cade Cunningham and Keegan Murra — Dec 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives in against Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

When to watch and betting odds

Cade Cunningham and the 23-6 Detroit Pistons play against 7-22 Sacramento Kings tonight at 10:00pm Eastern on NBC Sports California, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, and NBA League Pass. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Pistons as -8.5 point favorites against the Kings. This means a bet on the Pistons spread would require the Pistons to win the game by nine points or more for the bet to be successful.

Shooting struggles continue for Detroit

Detroit secured the win against Portland Monday night but it wasn't easy down the stretch. The 12-16 Trailblazers rallied late last night and even recaptured a one-point lead in the fourth quarter. Detroit won the game by eight points and Jalen Duren led the team in scoring with 26.

The Pistons shot 23% from three-point range. They missed 23 of their 30 threes. This has been a constant trend for Detroit this season and it's a trend that won't be sustainable in the playoffs. The Pistons lead the league in points in the paint and don't shoot a lot of threes for it to be detrimental to success, but it's something that needs to be addressed before the trade deadline. Detroit is the No. 25 team in three-point shooting percentage and No. 28 in attempts. The team also missed nine free throws against Portland.

Teams will move faster and shoot through the Pistons in the playoffs if they can't increase their three-point volume and efficiency. It's more likely that the shooting improves through the trade or buyout market rather than internally throughout the season.

How Detroit matches up against Sacramento

Sacramento is one of two teams behind Detroit in three-point attempts per game. Detroit sits behind Sacramento in three-point efficiency as well. The Pistons are the No. 21 team in the NBA in three-point percentage while Sacramento is ranked No. 20. With midrange maestros Russell Westbrook, Demar Derozan, and Zach Lavine leading the offense, it's not a surprise the volume of three-pointers is low in Sacramento. The emergence of Kings center Maxime Reynaud has been intriguing for the team on both sides of the ball as well.

Detroit compliments their lack of consistent three-point shooting with gritty defense and efficient paint scoring. Detroit has the No. 2 defensive rating in the NBA while the Kings rank No. 28. The Pistons have the second best paint offense in the NBA while the Kings have the No. 16 best paint offense.

Detroit has made up for a lot of their flaws with strengths elsewhere while the Kings have been underwhelming in many facets of basketball this season. They'll be hungry for back-to-back wins for just the second time all season against Detroit tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.