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The Pistons had just edged past a couple of teams (both wins by a five-point differential) when the Sacramento Kings came knocking at their doors at home.
Looking for their third straight win, the hosts put together an impressive show for three quarters, but the leakage in the final period of the game proved to be much. The Kings outscored the Pistons by 10 points in the fourth quarter and pulled through for a resilient 103-101 road win, outlined by Buddy Hield's buzzer-beater three-pointer.
The Kings have now won four of their last five games as they improve to 24-22 (0.522) on the season. Currently sitting at the 10th spot out West, they are still eight games below the Conference leaders, the Warriors.
With the Lakers ailing in LeBron James' absence, this might be just the right time to make a final push up the leaderboard as they clinch their 10th road win of the season.
On the other hand, the Pistons missed Andre Drummond badly as they suffered their sixth loss in the last ten games, now dropping to 20-25 (0.444) on the season.
They reside at the ninth place in the Eastern Conference right now, 13.5 games below the leaders with no clear signs of Drummond or Ish Smith's return in the near future.
Let's take a look at some of the best and worst individual performances in this thrilling Kings' win.
Hit: Buddy Hield
With just 3.4 seconds left on the clock and the Kings down by two, Bogdan Bogdanovic was given the task of inbounding the ball. Buddy Hield fumbled the inbound pass, recollected it, slid by three defenders and hoisted a one-legged three-pointer which beat the buzzer on its way through the net. Hield said after the game:
"I'm blessed to say I got one in the NBA at the highest level. It's fun. As a kid, you always dream of hitting one of those type of shots. It's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life."
Hield finished with a game-high total of 35 points (along with nine rebounds and three assists), but none more important than the three-pointer he squeezed in during the final seconds of the game. Buddy had an unforgettable shooting night, dropping an insane 7-of-9 from beyond the arc in Detroit.
Flop: Reggie Bullock
For all the efforts that have been made to surround Blake Griffin with quality talent, Reggie Bullock has tempered the expectations as a Pistons starter so far.
Against the Kings, Bullock spent 30 minutes on the court and contributed just eight points to Detroit's losing cause.
For a player who is shooting above 40 percent from the field this season, Reggie shot a miserable 3-of-12 in the loss, which involved a disappointing 2-of-9 show from long-range.
The last time Reggie scored in single digits was 10 games ago, which goes to show how ineffective he was against the Kings throughout the 48 minutes of play.
Carrying a pretty one-dimensional game, heavily reliant on shooting, there is a high chance that the Pistons front-office might shop him in the coming days before the trade deadline, in hopes to adding legit and multi-faceted depth to their roster.
Hit: Blake Griffin
Blake Griffin has been on a tear in Detroit this season. Every aspect of his basketball being has catapulted itself to a whole new level, with this being his fourth 30+ point score in the last five games.
For this game, in particular, Griffin dropped a game-high total of 38 points, shooting 12-of-23 from the field and making 13 of his 15 free throws.
Also chipping in six rebounds, three assists and three steals for his team, the former Dunk Contest champion played a huge role in the Pistons leading the game for the first three quarters and midway through the fourth as well.
With Drummond under the concussion protocol and unavailable for the night, he put up game-winning numbers single-handedly, only to end up with a heartbreaking loss at the end.
Flop: Iman Shumpert
Iman Shumpert has been utterly disappointing both in the starting and the reserve roles put together for the Kings this season. Across the previous eight games that he has played for Sacramento, he has managed to cross the 10-point barrier on only one occasion.
When the Kings visited Detroit in hope for a win, they got one in thrilling fashion. However, Iman had barely anything to do with it. Despite starting at the shooting guard position and playing 37 minutes (third most in the game), he ended up with just seven points to his name.
Shooting 3-of-9 from the floor is unacceptable for any shooting guard on any team in the league. He made just one of his three long-range shots and contributed with seven rebounds and five assists in the hard-fought win.
Considering the shooting slump he is going through, coach Dave Joerger will soon consider replacing him with Bogdanovic in the starting lineup for good.
Guess the Lakers players!
