The Detroit Pistons will try to avoid their second 0-5 start in three years when they resume a six-game trip on the West Coast tonight against the Sacramento Kings.
The 0-4 Pistons last started a season with five straight losses in 2010-11 and are winless (0-3) so far on their current road swing. In a 109-97 setback at Denver on Tuesday, Greg Monroe scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed 10 boards, while Rodney Stuckey added 17 points for the Pistons.
"The game came down to their penetration and offensive rebounding," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "We got beat off the dribble in help situations and didn't get a body on a body."
Tayshaun Prince netted only four points in defeat.
Detroit shot 44.9 percent from the floor and made 6-of-12 3-pointers. The Pistons were slaughtered on the boards, getting outrebounded by a lopsided 52-35 margin.
The Pistons are only one of two winless teams in the league (WAS, 0-2) and also will visit the Thunder and Rockets.
Sacramento avoided an 0-4 start by handing the Golden State Warriors a 94-92 loss on Monday in the opener of a three-game homestand.
DeMarcus Cousins led all scorers with 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Marcus Thornton and Aaron Brooks scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench for the Kings, who had lost their first three games -- all on the road. Thornton has scored in double-figures in four straight games.
The Kings almost blew an eight-point lead late in the game.
"It feels good to get the first win," Cousins said.
Sacramento will close out the homestand Friday versus San Antonio. Tonight's game versus Detroit is the Kings' second in a stretch of six of seven in California's capital.
The last time the Kings started 1-4 was back in 2009-10.
Sacramento lost both meetings with Detroit last season and is winless in the past five matchups in this series. The Pistons have prevailed in each of their last four trips to Sacramento.
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