• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Smith guides Pistons past Kings

Dec 14, 2014 - 6:40 AM Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Smith scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, five assists and five blocks to help the Detroit Pistons in a 95-90 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

Greg Monroe led the Pistons with 21 points and Andre Drummond checked in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Detroit has won two straight following a 13-game losing streak.

"The main thing was that our defense," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I thought defensively we did the things that we wanted to do."

Rudy Gay tallied 20 points to pace the Kings, who have lost three straight and four of their last five.

Carl Landry supplied 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Ben McLemore had 14 in the loss.

"I thought we missed a lot of great looks," said Kings coach Michael Malone. "I wasn't overly disappointed with the offense tonight."

Monroe's two free throws gave the Pistons an 83-73 lead with 4:41 left in the fourth; then Landry made consecutive jumpers as part of a 6-0 run that made it a two-possession game.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope responded with a 3-pointer and D.J. Augustin followed with a pair of free throws.

McLemore canned a pair of 3s around another two free throws from Augustin to cut the deficit to five, but Monroe converted a dunk with 24.4 seconds left to seal it.

Sacramento led 24-23 after 12 minutes, then stretched the margin to 46-43 at the break.

Detroit opened the second half on an 11-0 run for a 54-46 lead at the eight- minute mark. Monroe made a pair of jumpers as part of a 9-0 run later in the quarter to help push the lead to 67-53. However, the Kings scored the final seven points and trimmed the deficit to 67-60 entering the fourth.

Game Notes

Detroit has won four straight over the Kings ... The Pistons shot 44.3 percent from the floor and limited Sacramento to 35.5 percent shooting ... There were 10 lead changes and seven ties ... The Kings had a 55-43 edge on the glass.