The Pistons began the four-game road trip Tuesday with a 101-89 win over the Kings in Sacramento. Rip Hamilton led the team with 30 points and Tayshaun Prince filled the statline with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. The young Kings were led by future Rookie-of-the-year Tyreke Evans with 28 and 13 assists. Detroit jumped out to a 14 point lead in the first quarter before the Kings came back and closed it to three at quarters end. After relinquishing the lead early in the second, the Pistons stormed back to take back control and never trailed again. The team will head here to Los Angeles to face the Clippers Wednesday night. I may be there…

Key points of the night:

• Thoughts and prayers go out to coach John Kuester following the death of his father over the weekend.
• Detroit led by as many as 30 before the Kings rallied to within a dozen.
• Rodney Stuckey tallied 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists – despite of 4 turnovers.
• Looks like Tayshaun and Rip are healthy enough to have a meaningful impact for the stretch run.

• Pistons shot a sizzling 58.4% for the game.
• This is the Pistons’ first back-to-back wins since earlier this month versus the Nets and Bucks.
• This is also the first time the team has scored 100 points or more in back-to-back games since mid-December versus Denver and Golden State, both wins
• Jason Maxiell and Ben Wallace played limited minutes due to foul trouble, while Chris Wilcox saw action… although he couldn’t hit a free throw to save his life.
• Rebound war tied at 34.
• The Swede is a tough kid for real.
• Highlights of the Game via NBA.com

• Another DNP-CD for Kwame Brown.
• Tyreke Evans is going to be a great player in this league.
• Did anyone know that Larry Hughes plays for the Kings?
• For so reason, this is only Detroit’s 3rd win in the last 13 games in Sacramento.

Key Points:

• What happened to Detroit’s defense. The Kings were shooting the lights out at the Palace. The Kings shot 51.3% on the night.
• Ben Gordon, who Pistons fans had a glimmer of hope, was getting his shot back went 0-for-8 from the floor. And after seeing his post game interview in the locker room, I’m convinced he need a break more than most. Body language says it all.
• Impressed as always with Kevin Martin, who put up 26 for the Kings as well as Evan and Casspi. Purple uniform or not, I still hate Andres Nocioni.
• Why does Udrih burn the Pistons, no matter what team he plays for? He put up 22 off the bench for the Kings.
• Tayshaun was clearly the Player of the game going 11-for-15 for 23 points, 5 boards and assist and a blocked shot in 35 minutes on the floor. It’s hopeful to see Tayshaun revering from injury and finally stepping up.

Photo/Getty Images

• Hate to say it, but Prince’s last two performances really helps his trade value.
• Charlie Villanueva 4-for-8 for 11 points 3 boards and 1 assist. At this point, Jason Maxiell is totally outplaying him.  Charlie, we need a post presence, I know you like to shoot threes, but we already did this whole thing with another PF that just left the D for Green.
• Ben Wallace still blocking shots and making hustle plays. Ben with 5 points, 13 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.
• Rodney Stuckey put up 17 on 4-for-13 shooting with 9 assists, 4 steals, a blocked shot and 5 turnovers. It was one of those games when Rodney was doing whatever he could to make the push, but just couldn’t do it. It was also one of those games that late game turnovers from Rodney really hurt the Pistons chances of winning a game they had in their reach.
• Stucktacular – Rodney Stuckey with the first half speedy layup buzzer beater.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Rip Hamilton with 14 on 5-for-18 shooting, with 2 steals, 3 assists and 3 boards.  Do you realize Rip has the worst FG% of his NBA Career at 39%, and his worst 3 point % at 25.
• Is it too much to ask for a little Austin Daye?  I really feel he needs some minutes.
• Will Bynum looked a little tentative after tweaking his ankle a bit on Tuesday.  Will scored 8 with 4 assists.
• Jonas Jerebko 10 points, 7 boards and a steal in 26 minutes.  His Swedeness is making this season a little easier to watch.  Don’t  forget to watch him in the Rookie Challenge on Friday night.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• The Kings pace was clearly too much for Detroit and the combination of the Pistons lack of D and quick shots from Sacramento did Detroit in.
• The Pistons biggest lead was 8, while the Kings was 7.
• Upset they lost this one, because they really are playing and better.
• Board war tied at 41.
• This one was hard to lose, it went back and fourth with 19 ties and 12 lead changes. Once again the Pistons folded in the closing minutes.
• Don’t know if it was the snow, the Kings, the Pistons record, or a combination, but the crowd was very light at the Palace.
• With all the injuries and the way the season has unfolded I’m sure that the Pistons can’t wait for the break.  I’m also quite certain Pistons fan don’t mind it much either.
• Remember, February 18th is the NBA trade deadline.

The 18-32 Detroit Pistons are hosting the 17-34 Sacramento Kings on their second game of a back to back before the All Star break. Detroit will try to make it three in a row and go into the break on a good note.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:30 pm EST and will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit. For the radio broadcast tune in to 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Key Points:

• Stuck-y Stuck-y Stuck-y Stuck-y! Was the chant from the Palace crowd late in the fourth quarter when Rodney Stuckey decided to add to his already superb show. None louder than when he was at 38 and everyone in the building was willing his last shot in so he could get to 40 again.
• Allen Iverson didn’t disappoint either. Iverson not only played minutes he’s used to but he put up 23 points on 10-for -24 shooting. He grabbed 6 boards with 4 assists and a steal. His jumper with 15 seconds on the clock sealed the deal for Detroit and had him skipping to the bench when the Kings called their last timeout.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN

• “Right now we are starting to feel real good as a team,” Iverson said. “We are starting to get that confidence and swagger. We didn’t have that feeling at first. Obviously, running off six straight wins helps you feel a lot better, but we are coming together.” Via The Detroit News
• Mr. Stuckey led the Pistons with 38 points on 15 for 29 shooting while going 8-for-10 from the line. He added 7 assists, 4 boards and 3 steals in 42 minutes on the floor. Remember that poise that we all loved in late game situations that Chauncey Billups always brought to the game? Stuckey seems to have inherited it.
• Dyess and Sheed out-War of the boards lost 49-45.
• Kevin Martin put up 20 and Brad Miller burned the Pistons for 25.
• Detroit held the Kings to 33% shooting on the night.
• What did Rodney think about the fans chanting his name? Here is his FSN post game interview with Eli Zaret.
• Stucktacular Highlights. As Greg Kelser stated, “If you didn’t know, now you know.”

Photo/Getty Images

• Afflalo had a surprisingly cold night going 0-for-4.
• Walter Hermann 5 minutes, 2 boards and 2 quick personal fouls.
• A quiet 22 minutes for Mr. Maxiell, probably because Amir Johnson was tearing things up.
• 36 points in the paint for Detroit to 30 for the Kings.
• The Kings made 33 of 34 free throws.
• Amir Johnson has been truly impressive since he’s been added to the starting lineup. Last night was no different as he had a career night in rebounding (14) and minutes (38). A double-double on the night adding 10 points to his 14 boards and his hustle was a big part of why Detroit won this game. Did I mention his 3 blocks? The kid goes after everything.
• Amirzing Highlights.

Photo/Getty Images

• FSN Highlights of the game. Make sure you check out the bullet pass in the fourth to an open Amir (from Stuckey). He got his double-double just in time.
• Alarming – Detroit was 75% from the charity stripe.
• Tayshaun Prince had a huge night too, 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting with 10 boards, an assist and 3 blocked shots. It’s nice to see Prince play at his true position, that’s when he’s at his best. This pass from AI to Prince for the dunk was The Play of The Game.

Photo/Getty Images

• Tough West Coast road trip ahead for Detroit, starting tomorrow (Sunday Afternoon) against the Clippers. Here is to hoping we have at least some of the injured back on court.
• As I told you, it was Need4Sheed’s suite night at the Palace. That’s a separate post altogether but let me just say, thank you David, the Pistons are a great organization and George Blaha is a saint!

The Pistons will host the 8-24 Sacramento Kings tonight at The Palace. The Pistons have won 5 of the last 8 against the Kings and are on their longest winning streak of the season (5).

The Pistons will be without Rip Hamilton and possibly Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess as they try to extend their streak to six games.

Let’s hope something Amirzing happens like it did against the Nets. Amir has really stepped up his game since being put back in the starting lineup.

Detroit is holding its opponents to 40.1 shooting and 83.8 points during its five game winning streak. That won’t be easy with Kevin Martin in the lineup for The Kings. Sacramento was without Martin the last time these two teams faced each other.

Meanwhile, the Pistons assign Alex Acker and Walter Sharpe to the D League. Surprising move with Rip out of the lineup right now.

Tip off is at 8:00 P.M. and will be locally broadcast on FSN. If you can’t watch the broadcast, tune into 1130 AM The Fan where you can catch our friend Matt Dery with the Pre-Game starting at 7:0. Can’t do either, follow the game on NBA.com.

Leave them in the comments or Chat Live during the game.

I will be enjoying the game with The Winners of the I’m Sheed contest in The Pistons.com Suite. Good Times!

As most of you know by now, Rodney Stuckey didn’t make the trip out to California with the team, staying behind to get checked out after complaining of dizziness during the Celtics game on Sunday. Coach Curry doesn’t expect Stuckey to make it to the game, but he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Rodney making it out to California to finish off the West Coast trip.

He will however be ready to play Tayshaun as a point forward:

“Tay is going to facilitate some of our offense,” Curry said after the Pistons’ two-hour practice at Arco Arena Monday. “He will get into it with Allen handing it off to Tay. And there are other sets that Tay will start himself.”

“We are just getting Tay into a mode where he’s aggressive all the time and I don’t want to take that away,” Curry said. “I would rather figure out the other stuff out first. Because at the end of the day, we are going to need Tay to be aggressive, especially in the playoffs when he’s going against the elite three-men in the game” Via The Detroit News

On another note, I won’t make a Narcolepsy joke about Walter Sharpe missing the team plane to California. He made his own way out West and to the Arena (and hour late for practice) and will be fined by the team, but will be ready to play tonight if need be.

This could be Iverson’s first win in a Piston uniform, the 3-4 Kings will be without Kevin Martin as well as backup guards Francisco Garcia and Quincy Douby. It seems like a lifetime ago that Detroit beat the Kings, so this is as good time as any.

Tip off is at 10:00 PM and will be broadcast locally on FSN and CSNCA for those of you in California. As always you can catch it on the radio at WDFN 1130 AM The Fan or stream it live at NBA.com.

To keep you busy until tip remember – Rasheed Wallace is a Toaster! ( from the good people of Free Darko) My suggestion…if you read any book any time soon make sure it’s this one.
FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today’s Game

You know the drill, you can leave your thoughts in the comments as well as THE CHAT ROOM now or at gametime.