Jaden Ivey's clutch heroics seals comeback victory for Pistons over Kings
12/27/2024 09:09 AM
The Detroit Pistons delivered another thrilling late-game victory by taking down the Sacramento Kings 114-113. With only three seconds left on the game clock, shooting guard Jaden Ivey knocked down a triple to tie the game while being fouled by Kings’ guard De’Aaron Fox. Ivey stepped to the line and connected on the game-winning free throw for the Pistons to go up one.
The Pistons to improved to a 14-17 regular-season record courtesy of their last-second victory. This also ties Detroit’s win total from last season. Their 14th win did not come until late in April 2024 against the Dallas Mavericks. Crossing that total during a three-game winning streak shows major growth for this young rebuilding franchise.
Detroit remains undefeated with three wins on their current west-coast road trip. The Pistons also moved up in the Eastern Conference standings over the Chicago Bulls to ninth place. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke about the resilience of his team and what it meant to bring this win home.
“That was just a funky game for us most of the night. I think we played like we enjoyed the Christmas holiday, but give our guys a ton of credit, they never gave in,” Bickerstaff said. “That fourth quarter to outscore them 37-22 and come up with a win, I thought was huge for our guys.”
“Again, it speaks to the character of this group. It’s who we are. We never lay down, we never quit. We’re going to play the entire 48, and a lot of times we play five more. Our guys are prepped for it. I just thought it was big time. It was ugly, it was nasty, we didn’t fragment, we just found a way to do it together.”
Stunning fourth quarter comeback for Pistons
The Pistons struggled to turn momentum in their direction against the Kings. Sacramento led Detroit by as many as 19 points, including a 16-point lead in the final period. The Pistons refused to quit and battled back from a double-digit deficit in impressive fashion putting pressure on the Kings.
Veteran guard Malik Beasley woke up in the fourth quarter knocking down three clutch triples for Detroit. The Pistons were able to build on that momentum on the defensive end with some major stops by Ivey and Jalen Duren.
Fox responded for the King with a mid-range jumper to put Sacramento up 111-108 with 19 seconds left. Ivey hit the final two field goals for Detroit with a quick layup and the dagger three to tie the game before the free throw.
Ivey has been a clutch staple for the Pistons this season. Thursday’s game-winner marks his second-game winning shot of his career. The first was against the Toronto Raptors back in November with a running floater as the game clock expired at Little Caesars Arena.
Point guard Cade Cunningham led the Pistons for the majority of the game with 33 points and ten assists, marking his 16th double-double of the season. Beasley’s sharp-shooting came up big for Detroit as he totaled 22 points off the bench. Ivey put up 19 points in the victorious effort. Duren was impactful as well scoring 13 points and grabbing ten rebounds in 31 minutes of action for the Pistons.
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