With an impressive victory last night against New York, the Kings have a rare chance to get a little winning streak going if they can beat Detroit tonight. Sacramento has not won more than one game in a row since beating the Raptors in their home opener on Nov.1st, 2010.
The Pistons haven't done too much better than the Kings this season, only posting a record of 13-26, but with a lot more NBA experience. Lately though, they've had to resort to using their young players more often as injuries and trade speculation have mounted.
It's the trade speculation that is keeping former starting SG Rip Hamilton out of two straight games so far, despite being healthy. Hamilton is rumored to be involved in a package that would send him to New Jersey as part of a trade that would also send Carmelo Anthony to the Nets. The Pistons have also been without veteran defensive anchor Ben Wallace for the last two games, who is nursing an ankle injury.
Because of that Detroit has been forced to start rookie Greg Monroe at Center and Tracy McGrady at SG. McGrady helped lead the Pistons to a victory over the Toronto Raptors yesterday, scoring a season high 22 points.
Much like New York, Detroit is lacking in size. Tayshaun Prince is an excellent defender but probably won't see too much time against the Kings big men. If Ben Wallace doesn't play again, Sacramento needs to go into Carl Landry and DeMarcus Cousins a lot, because none of the Pistons big man rotation are known for their defense.
Last year, the Kings also had back-to-back games on the road against New York and then Detroit. They were able to win both as well, so hopefully for Sacramento, history does repeat itself. The same solid defensive effort they showed last night would help the cause greatly.