The Kings’ final road trip of the 2024-25 NBA regular season was a roller coaster, to say the least.
After three consecutive losses — capped off by a troubling defeat to the 17-win Washington Wizards — Sacramento bounced back a trio of wins to salvage the six-game jaunt.
Monday’s victory perhaps was indicative of the trip as a whole, as the Kings recovered from an 18-point first-half deficit to claim a 127-117 win over the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.
Guard Zach LaVine led the way with 43 points, including 16 straight for Sacramento branching the third and fourth quarters. The midseason addition had it going from outside, shooting 8 for 11 from 3-point range.
“When he gets the heater going, it’s a different type of heater,” coach Doug Christie said postgame of LaVine. “You just want him to touch the ball every time.”
LaVine’s huge night came just 24 hours after another big performance, dropping 37 points with seven triples in the Kings’ 120-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
The two-time All-Star became the first player in franchise history to have consecutive games with 35-plus points and five-plus 3-pointers, per NBA Stats.
Zach LaVine is the first Kings player to record 35+ points and 5+ threes in consecutive games.
Last night: 37 PTS, 7 3PM
Tonight: 43 PTS, 8 3PM https://t.co/S9XYL38vpb pic.twitter.com/93ANudMYcp— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) April 8, 2025
Forward DeMar DeRozan, who went on a 37-point heater of his own Monday, didn’t appear shocked by LaVine’s red-hot shooting.
After all, the two teammates previously shared the floor with the Chicago Bulls from 2021 to 2024 before a February reunion in Sacramento at the NBA trade deadline. So, DeRozan knows about LaVine’s ability to catch fire as well as anyone.
“I just told [LaVine] to keep going. I was supposed to come in for him at the start of the 4th. I told Coach to just leave him in,” DeRozan told NBC Sports California’s Morgan Ragan and Deuce Mason on “Kings Postgame Live.” “He was hot. He led us. Without him getting hot, we wouldn’t have gotten this win.
“It’s nothing new for me. I’ve seen it.”
“It’s nothing new for me. I’ve seen it.”
DeMar DeRozan wasn’t surprised to see Zach LaVine catch fire tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CxLUxXpRVV
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) April 8, 2025
While the Kings’ rough start to the trip certainly wasn’t ideal, Christie believes it helped inspire the combined 80-point night from his top scoring tandem.
“The basketball universe — it’s an interesting thing,” Christie delineated to reporters. “But I tell them, sometimes you get what you need and not what you want.
“We want to play well all the time. But obviously, in that moment, there were many things with us that needed to be discussed and needed to be — that’s a part of our game that needs to evolve as well. And I think it took a low point like that to make us address it.”
DeRozan offered a similar observation on the impact of last week’s Wizards loss.
“Every individual had to look themselves in the mirror, first and foremost, and understand that’s not the complete level we got to bring every single night if we want to be a playoff team,” DeRozan explained. “Ever since then, everybody’s been stepping up.”
The Kings’ leaders have stepped up the most; forward Domantas Sabonis added a triple-double Monday to help Sacramento battle back from their early adversity — just as the team has responded to that “low point” in Washington D.C.
Now, with some clear momentum heading back home, the Kings hope to carry it through the end of the regular season. Currently the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, Sacramento will clinch a spot in the NBA play-in tournament if the Golden State Warriors defeat the Kevin Durant-less Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
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