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

BOX score

SACRAMENTO – De’Aaron Fox’s foul on Jaden Ivey with 3.1 seconds left made it a four-point game and extended the Kings’ losing streak after Thursday’s 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Golden 1 Center to five games.

Fox had a solid game all night before trying 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 ultimately unable to make a realistic shot as boos erupted from the home crowd.

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

Trey Lyles came off the bench and scored 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 (due to illness) for the third time this season, the Kings led most of the way, but ultimately couldn’t stop the Pistons’ winning streak.

Kevin Huerter’s two free throws seemed to be just about enough with 10.8 seconds left in the game, but the Kings again couldn’t close the deal.

Here are the takeaways from Thursday’s game:

Deebos Drive is back

With Sabonis unavailable, the Kings needed someone who could step in and provide some offense. DeRozan did just that with his highest-scoring game in two weeks.

DeRozan was much more aggressive on offense and showed more dynamism and attacks than in recent games. His shooting dipped a bit in the second half as he settled for outside shots, but he finished the night with 7 of 13 shots from the floor – significantly better than four days earlier, when DeRoza posted his worst shooting performance of the season and made six of seven shots He tried it against the Indiana Pacers.

3 To compensate for 1

It’s nearly impossible to replace the double-double machine that is Sabonis 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 quite well.

Lyles did his best to offset some of the offense, scoring 15 points in the second quarter while Len and Jones took care of the defense. Len got the start, and although he was limited on offense (four points), he made an impact on defense and did a good job of using his 7-foot frame to deflect shots to the rim.

Bank bundle

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 backup 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 average in the NBA, averaging 25.5 on the bench.

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