Sacramento should have closed out this game. The Kings led the Pistons by 16 early in the fourth quarter but Sacramento’s lack of defense came back to bite them. Again. Yet after a couple of Kevin Huerter free throws had the Kings up 113-110 with 10.8 seconds left, it took a couple of mistakes by the Kings to lead to this:
Jaden Ivey with a four-point play to give the Pistons the win.
JADEN IVEY 4-POINT PLAY FOR THE WIN ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) December 27, 2024
Pistons win 114-113 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9wuXDyj85V
While Kings fans will argue Ivey lept into Fox to draw the foul, replays show Fox had made contact with Ivey, grabbing his arm and shoulder, even before that.
As Kings coach Mike Brown said postgame, Ivey should not have gotten that 3-pointer off. The coaching staff had told the Kings to foul if they could before any shot, yet the Pistons dribbled around for seven seconds before Ivey’s shot without a foul. Also, Brown said Fox should never have sagged off Ivey in the corner down 3, he should have stuck on his guy an let Malik Beasley drive the lane (let the Pistons have the two).
Cade Cunningham continued to look like an All-Star for the Pistons, scoring 33 points plus dishing out 10 assists in the win. Beasley finished with 22 and Ivey 19 for Detroit. Fox led the Kings with 26, while former King Trey Lyles had 20 off the bench.
