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Kings go for rare road win against Pistons

Jan 1, 2013 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - The hobbled Sacramento Kings aim for just their second road victory of the season on Tuesday night as they try to halt the Detroit Pistons' winning streak at two games.

The Kings are just 1-12 as the road team this season and on Tuesday play the first of four straight as the visiting club. The games are all out east and are spread out over just five nights.

Sacramento will again be without guard Tyreke Evans, who did not travel with the club because of a lingering knee issue. He has missed 12 of the last 16 games and will get a second opinion in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Guard Marcus Thornton is also unlikely to play after suffering a sprained left ankle in Sunday's 118-96 home win over the Boston Celtics, a game that fellow guard Aaron Brooks missed due to his own sprained left ankle.

Brooks practiced on Monday and could return tonight.

Short on guards, Isaiah Thomas made his second straight start and 10th of the season on Sunday and netted a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He also handed out five assists.

John Salmons added 23 points, Jason Thompson scored 20 with six rebounds and DeMarcus Cousins notched his first career triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

"It felt good, first one of my career," said Cousins, who was playing in his second game following a team suspension. "I'm just glad my teammates gave me the opportunity to do it."

The Kings also dished out at least 28 assists as a team for a fourth straight game.

The Pistons take aim at their first three-game winning streak of the season after winning the first two contests of a five-game homestand. They made it back-to-back wins with Sunday's 96-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

After Milwaukee took its first lead of the game, Tayshaun Prince hit a successful hook shot to even the game, then hit the game-winning free throws after drawing a late foul with 10.9 seconds left.

"He is such a big-time player when it comes to situations like that," said Pistons guard Brandon Knight of Prince. "He's been in them so many times, so he's very poised in situations like that."

Prince scored 20 points and Greg Monroe had 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Pistons won for the fourth time in five games despite blowing an 11-point lead. Jason Maxiell added 10 points and 10 boards.

"It wasn't necessarily pretty, but as we've seen with these division games, they're grimy, grindy and nasty," noted Pistons coach Lawrence Frank. "Obviously we have a lot to work on. It was good to find a way to win and execute down the stretch. Tay was big."

Detroit played its second straight game without guard Rodney Stuckey due to a sprained ankle.

The Pistons swept their two-game series with the Kings in each of the previous two seasons, but lost a 105-103 game in Sacramento on Nov. 7 despite Monroe's first career triple-double. He logged 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Cousins paced the Kings with 21 points and 11 boards.

Sacramento will look to avoid losing for the seventh time in its past nine trips to Detroit.