What we learned as late collapse dooms Kings in heartbreaking loss

What we learned as late collapse dooms Kings in heartbreaking loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SACRAMENTO – De’Aaron Fox’s foul on Jaden Ivey led to a four-point play with 3.1 seconds remaining, and the Kings saw their losing streak extended to five games following Thursday’s 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Golden 1 Center.

Fox had a solid game going all evening before he ran to try to block Ivey’s 3-point shot in the right corner. Instead, Ivey sank the shot and was fouled. He made the ensuing free throw, and the Kings were unable to get a realistic shot off at the end as boos from the home crowd cascaded down.

Fox finished with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He also became the 12^th player in franchise history and fourth in the Sacramento era to play 500 games for the team.

Trey Lyles came off the bench to score a season-high 20 points. DeMar DeRzan scored 19 points while Keegan Murray added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Playing without Domantas Sabonis (illness) for the third time this season, the Kings led most of the way but couldn’t hold off the Pistons’ surge at the end.

Kevin Huerter’s two free throws with 10.8 seconds left to play appeared to be just enough but the Kings once again couldn’t close the deal.

Here are the takeaways from Thursday’s game:

Deebo’s Drive Is Back

With Sabonis unavailable the Kings needed someone to step up and provide some offense. DeRozan did exactly that with his highest-scoring game in two weeks.

DeRozan was a lot more aggressive with his offense and did more driving and attacking than he had been in recent games. His shooting dropped off a little in the second half when he settled for perimeter shots but he finished the night 7 of 13 from the floor – significantly better than four days earlier when DeRoza suffered through worst shooting performance of the season and six of the seven shots he attempted against the Indiana Pacers.

3 To Make Up for 1

It’s nearly impossible to replace the double-double machine that Sabonis is with just one player, so the Kings relied on a trio of big men – Alex Len, Isaac Jones and Trey Lyles. The combination of the three worked out fairly well.

Lyles did his best to make up for some of the offense, scoring 15 points in the second quarter, while Len and Jones handled the defensive side of things. Len got the start and although limited offensively (four points), he made an impact with on defense and did a good job using his 7-foot frame to alter shots at the rim.

Bench Bunch

For one of the few times this season the Kings got plenty of production from their bench. A big part of that was how well Lyles played in his extended minutes but he wasn’t the only one giving Sacramento quality back-up minutes.

Keon Ellis, Kevin Huerter, Isaac Jones and Colby Jones combined for 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The Kings entered the night with the third-lowest scoring bench in the NBA with a 25.5 average.

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