Kings takeaways: What we learned in 103-101 buzzer-beating win over Pistons

Share

BOX SCORE

The cardiac Kings were staring at an 0-2 start to their road trip. And then Buddy Hield happened.

The shooting guard was huge early in Saturday night's game against the Detroit Pistons, but then he went dormant. When he woke in the fourth quarter, it was game on.

Sacramento’s leading scorer went off for 15 points in the final frame, including a miraculous 3-pointer off one leg at the buzzer, to give the Kings a dramatic 103-101 win.

Here are three takeaways as the Kings stunned the Pistons with Hield's buzzer-beater to improve to 24-22 on the season.

Buddy Buckets comes through big time

Hield came out firing in the first half, scoring 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting before intermission. Then he completely disappeared in the third quarter, going scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

With the game on the line, though, Hield returned to form, including the dagger as time expired.

Hield finished with 35 points and shot 7-of-9 from behind the 3-point line. He added nine rebounds and one very special moment.

Blaaaaake

Blake Griffin is off to a great start this season with the Pistons. After missing the last matchup between these teams in Sacramento, the All-Star big man went to work on the Kings’ front line.

Detroit’s first option scored 22 points in the first half and looked unstoppable. Kings coach Dave Joerger made an adjustment coming out of the half, starting rookie Marvin Bagley at the four.

Bagley helped slow Griffin to just five points in the third quarter, but he bounced back in the fourth to finish the night with 38 points on 12-of-23 shooting and added six rebounds. It wasn’t enough to push the Pistons over the top.

Battling Bagley

It wasn’t a perfect game for the Kings’ rookie, but Bagley showed he wasn’t going to back down from anyone.

Griffin pulled out all the stops and got all the calls. But Bagley stayed the course and made an impact on the game.

Bagley posted 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes of action. Joerger showed some faith in the 19-year-old out of Duke, who rewarded his coach with a gutsy performance.

Contact Us