January 19th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
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Friday’s game between the Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons offered some contrasts: the Kings’ bench provided a major offensive boost; on the other hand, the Pistons’ bench could only muster 5 points.? The hot bench scoring of the Kings proved to be beneficial as Sacramento defeated the Pistons 99-93 at Detroit.
Detroit, thanks to a combination of the Kings’ zone defense and cold shooting (7-of-21) in the second quarter, would be outscored by Sacramento 33-19; the Kings would go into halftime with a 56-48 lead.? Trailing 96-93, the Pistons got a couple good looks at a tying shot but missed both attempts; the Kings’ Mike Bibby made a layup with 18 seconds left in the game, sealing the win for Sacramento.
Sacramento’s leading scorer was Kevin Martin with 24 points and 7 rebounds from off the bench; Ron Artest added 18 from off the bench, while Brad Miller chipped in with 17 with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.? Bibby scored 16 with 5 boards and 4 assists in 29 minutes from off the bench.? Detroit was led by Chauncey Billups who had an excellent – just missing a triple double – effort, scoring 28 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists; Richard Hamilton added 24 while Antonio McDyess recorded a double-double, pouring in 14 and 11 rebounds.? Sacramento (16-22) now takes the short journey to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers Saturday night, while Detroit (29-11) travels to Chicago to face the Bulls – also on Saturday.
[...] Slam Dunk Central: Bench Scoring Proves Huge, Kings Beat Pistons [...]