(Sports Network) - The Indiana Pacers hope to continue their push to the postseason Saturday when they visit Central Division rival Detroit.
The Pacers lost out on an opportunity to improve their chances Friday when DeMarcus Cousins scored 18 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as the lowly Sacramento Kings handled Indiana, 110-93, at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"Tough loss, we knew it wouldn't be an easy night," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We defended decently in the first quarter, we just couldn't throw it in the ocean."
Danny Granger paced Indiana with a game-high 20 points and Paul George added 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss. The Pacers remain in the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, two games in front of both Charlotte and Milwaukee, both of which won on Friday.
Dahntay Jones and Roy Hibbert both finished with 11 points for Indiana, which shot a dismal 4-of-25 from three-point range.
The Pistons, meanwhile, dropped their third in a row on Friday when J.J. Hickson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers over Detroit, 97-91, in the Forest City.
Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince each scored 15 points to pace the Pistons.
"They had more energy than us," Pistons head coach John Kuester said. "They played harder than us."
Indiana has won seven of its past eight meetings with the Pistons.