Mike Brown will not have to apologize to ticket-buying Sacramento Kings fans after Tuesday’s game.
The head coach felt bad for the paying customers who witnessed the Kings’ 133-100 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. The Kings will be far from their home court on Tuesday, when they will be in Detroit to begin a five-game road trip.
The Pelicans led by as many as 50 points while defeating the Kings for the fourth time this season as Sacramento star guard De’Aaron Fox had three points on 1-of-10 shooting.
New Orleans led 72-47 at halftime, then outscored Sacramento 31-14 in the third quarter.
The Kings had won four of their previous five games, including a double-overtime triumph over Orlando on Wednesday and a five-point victory over Toronto on Friday.
The fans showed their displeasure as the Pelicans built a huge lead with little resistance from the home team.
The Kings’ opponent on Tuesday has struggled to give its own fans much to cheer about. Making things even worse for the 3-33 Pistons is that their best player is now ailing.
Cade Cunningham exited the team’s 131-114 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday during the first half with a left knee strain.
Any time Cunningham has to miss will require more production from Pistons guards Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Killian Hayes and Marcus Sasser.
The Pistons fell apart without their floor leader on Sunday, giving up 43 third-quarter points to the defending champions. Detroit has lost four consecutive games after snapping its historic 28-game losing streak with a home win Dec. 30 over the Toronto Raptors.
Cunningham has averaged 22.8 points with 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 36 games.
