Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie said that he wanted guard Zach LaVine to touch the ball every time during his 43-point game in their 127-117 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

The win leaves the Kings ninth in the West, just two games up on the Dallas Mavericks in 10th, and they had LaVine to thank after he shot eight for 11 from three-point range and 16 straight.

"When he gets the heater going, it's a different type of heater. You just want him to touch the ball every time," said Christie after the game.

LaVine's big performance came just a day after he had registered 37 points with seven three-pointers in the Kings' 120-113 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.

He is the first player in franchise history to have consecutive games with 35 or more points and five or more three-pointers. Forward DeMar DeRozan, who scored 37 points himself, was not surprised by LaVine's form, having previously played with him between 2021 and 2024.

"I just told [LaVine] to keep going. I was supposed to come in for him at the start of the fourth. I told Coach to just leave him in," said DeRozan, as reported by NBC. "He was hot. He led us. Without him getting hot, we wouldn't have gotten this win. It's nothing new for me. I've seen it."

The Kings came back from a 10-point deficit at half-time to win this one and, while it was hardly the ideal start to the match, Christie believes that it could have helped get his top-scoring pair going.

FINAL: Kings defeat the Pistons 127-117.

 Zach LaVine: 43 PTS, 4 AST, 3 REB
 DeMar DeRozan: 37 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
 Domantas Sabonis: 19 PTS, 15 REB, 10 AST

Kings Win presented by @RedHawkCasino pic.twitter.com/i655cs3gsp

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) April 8, 2025

"The basketball universe, it's an interesting thing. But I tell them, sometimes you get what you need and not what you want," he said.

"We want to play well all the time. But obviously, in that moment, there were many things with us that needed to be discussed and needed to be. 

"That's a part of our game that needs to evolve as well. And I think it took a low point like that to make us address it."

Having also lost to the Eastern Conference's bottom team, the Washington Wizards, last week, DeRozan seemed to be in agreement with his coach in suggesting that adversity focused their mind.

"Every individual had to look themselves in the mirror, first and foremost, and understand that's not the complete level we got to bring every single night if we want to be a playoff team. Ever since then, everybody's been stepping up," he said.