nt anticipate significantly increasing their salary structure. "It

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - After going nearly a month without a victory, the Detroit Pistons now proudly own a two-game winning streak.Greg Monroe scored 24 points, Josh Smith had 21 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots, and the Pistons beat the Sacramento Kings 95-90 on Saturday night.The Pistons used a 24-14 advantage in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead in registering back-to-back wins for only the second time all season.Detroit, 5-19 this season, had lost 13 straight and was one loss shy of tying the franchise record before beating Phoenix on Friday.When youre 3-19 there is no pressure to win with that kind of record. You can play carefree, and just try to play your game, said Smith, who shot 6 of 9 from the field.Smiths game, which included seven turnovers, was far from perfect, and his teammates werent, either. Detroit missed 14 of 20 3-pointers, was outrebounded 55-43 and its 15 turnovers resulted in 20 points.But it helped that the Kings were again without leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins, who missed his ninth straight game with viral meningitis. The Kings have gone 2-7 without Cousins, who has no timetable for a return.Rudy Gay made four 3-pointers and scored 20, and also added eight rebounds and eight assists for the Kings, who shot 35 per cent. But Gay also struggled overall, hitting just 6-of-22 attempts. Usually productive point guard Darren Collison missed nine of 10 shots and had three points.Definitely holding them to 35-per cent shooting was good, Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. We made it tough on Rudy Gay — a great player — and Collison. We did what we wanted to do defensively.Carl Landry had 15 points and Ben McLemore 14 for Sacramento, which has dropped three straight and eight of 10.Andre Drummond had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Kyle Singler added 11 points for Detroit, which had a season-high nine blocks.With the Pistons clinging to a four-point lead, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer and DJ Augustin made two free throws to make it 88-79 with 34 seconds remaining. Consecutive 3-pointers by McLemore cut the lead to three points, but Monroe had a breakaway dunk to help seal the victory.The Pistons spread the ball around offensively in the second half and played effectively on defence against the cold-shooting Kings, who opened the season with a 9-5 record but have struggled since losing Cousins.I dont think we are waiting for DeMarcus to come back. We just are not playing the right basketball right now, Collison said.Regardless when he comes back or not, we are not playing the right basketball. DeMarcus does a lot of things that are good for us and he also builds us up because he is so talented. But you never want to rely on just one guy to build you up.Detroit trailed by three points before scoring 11 unanswered to start the third quarter. The Kings missed their first nine shots and went scoreless for more than 4 1/2 minutes. Despite a 13-0 run later in the period, Detroit only led 67-60 entering the fourth.I thought we missed a lot of great looks. That third quarter really hurt us, Kings coach Michael Malone said. We shot 18 per cent in that quarter. So that makes it hard to build a lead and win games when you struggle to make shots.___TIP-INSPistons: Point guard Brandon Jennings had another rough evening offensively, finishing with three points. He is averaging 5.3 points in the past seven games.Kings: Sacramento entered the game averaging less than five 3s a game. The Kings made 7 of 14 in the opening half and finished with a season-high 11. ... Reserve forward Omri Casspi missed his second straight game with a left knee bone contusion.FATHER VS. SONBrendan Malone, the father of Kings coach, is an assistant coach with the Pistons. The two spoke for about 10 minutes outside the Kings locker room after the game, with father providing some consoling words. My son is a very good coach, hes done a nice job with this team, Brendan said. But I understand what hes up against right now, hes doesnt have his best player. Thats difficult.UP NEXTPistons: Visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.Kings: Host Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Royals Jerseys 2020 .Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop . In the Brewers six games this season, no starter has allowed more than three runs. "We see the guy in front of us do a great job and we want to do even better," Gallardo said after the Brewers beat the Red Sox 4-0 on Sunday, his second straight scoreless start. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . The move - the latest twist in Greeces nearly three-year financial freefall -- is the first such action by any of the countrys major sports bodies. It immediately halts all domestic track and field competitions, including track meets May 12-13 in several Greek cities. Kansas City Royals Gear . The 31-year-old, a two-time CFL lineman of the year, was among the most coveted free agents on the market. The Windsor, Ont., native will be especially important to a team that has lost veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to retirement and is expected to go with the less experienced Troy Smith and Tanner Marsh this season. Wholesale Royals Jerseys . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.OTTAWA -- Eugene Melnyk expects to make the playoffs every year, and when his team misses out he plans to make sure it doesnt happen again. The Ottawa Senators owner voiced his disappointment over the teams performance this season in a conference call with media Tuesday, and said changes could be coming. Melnyk said he and general manager Bryan Murray are "in the process of evaluating everything, our players, our prospects and our coaching staff." "Definitely not a wholesale change, we just need to show up more often," Melnyk added. "I think we need leadership. I think we need accountability from top to bottom and thats more of a mindset and it could also reflect the maturity of the team and as they mature, dont kid yourself, because I did some exit interviews and these are not happy campers." While there had been speculation that head coach Paul MacLean could be relieved of his duties, that doesnt appear to be the case. "I think its pretty certain, well I can assure you Pauls our coach," said Melnyk. "And hes going to be our coach going into next year, but were evaluating everything within the hockey operations, but as far as the leadership is concerned thats staying put." Thats not to say management was overly impressed with MacLeans performance this past season. "They should have done better," said Murray of the coaching staff. "Unless you win a championship I think you can say that about everybody. I think there were some stages in the year where maybe a different decision could have been made." On Monday MacLean admitted that he went into the season with the belief that he needed to be more demanding of his players, and Murray said it probably wasnt the wisest strategy. "My note to him today was the players like the old Paul," Murray said. "They like the guy that sat and talked to them, treated them in a more easy-going fashion, that taught, not confronted. "There were some mistakes made obviously. You dont go to some of your better players and confront them early in the year and expect change. The change is usually in the negative form. I think what Paul did two years leading up to this was a real strong indication of the type of coach he is. I think as you go through your career you learn lots of things and I think its a stage that hell be much better because of it." Murrays biggest decision in the off-season could be whether or not to move captain Jason Spezza. Spezza has one more year remaining on a contract that has a cap hit of US$7 million, but a salary of $4 million. Speculation of Spezza being traded surfaced at the trade deadline and one has to wonder if the Senators feel now is the time to make a significant change. "I think Jason understands what his role was and is," said Melnyk. "Hes a professional. He understands youre here today, could be gone tomorrow. "Its very dependent on what other pieces we have to put together and I think at the end of the day hes just one of 20 plus players that participated this year and we just didnt get it done. " Murray said Spezza was one of five players going into the final year of a contract and that all five, in addition to this years three unrestricted free agents, would be evaluated.dddddddddddd "Im not sure why Jason is the single guy here being evaluated," Murray said. "Number one I guess maybe he wore the C and thats part of it, but we, I believe, have five guys going into their last year and decisions have to be made and they will be made at the right time." The Senators actually have six players entering the final year of their contract including Spezza. Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Erik Condra, Marc Methot and Craig Anderson will all be looking for new contracts next season. At this point it seems Ryan could be the first to re-sign as both parties seem eager to come to terms on a new agreement. Milan Michalek, Ales Hemsky and Matt Kassian are all unrestricted free agents this season and it appears Michalek could be the only one returning. Murray said Kassian isnt in his plans and he didnt believe the Senators were in Kassians plans. As for Hemsky, it doesnt appear he will return. Michalek has expressed an interest in returning and its likely term and money will play a factor. The Senators have a number of young players who will be pushing for playing time and they want to ensure theres room. Murray said Mark Stone, who played 19 games this season and had eight points (4 goals, 4 assists), now looks like an NHL player and was impressed with Jean-Gabriel Pageaus play late in the season. He also mentioned that Curtis Lazar looks to be NHL ready and will be pushing for a roster spot as well as a few others who are currently playing in Binghamton. In addition, Murray said the Senators would like to find a tougher forward. The Senators have three restricted free agents, Mike Hoffman, Eric Gryba and Robin Lehner, that Murray will need to make decisions on. Lehner, 22, will likely be the priority, considering Anderson will be heading into the final year of his contract. "I still think to be a good team in the league you need two goaltenders," Murray said. "You need both that can win games for you. I think Robins very close (to being a number one goalie). I think if we gave him the stick and said go in the net and play every night I think he could win a lot of hockey games for us." Financially the Senators are in good shape, but they dont anticipate significantly increasing their salary structure. "Its very, very easy to increase payroll, any idiot can do it and a lot of idiots do and they overspend and they go to the cap and Ive done it twice and both times it didnt make an impact," Melnyk said. The Senators owner says he prefers to spend money on various resources that can be used in the development of players on the roster and in the minors. Notes: Much was made last Saturday when Kassian didnt dress for the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Murray said a decision had been made earlier in the day when a call between he and Toronto GM Dave Nonis took place. Nonis wanted to call up a young player, but was concerned that if Kassian was in the lineup things could get physical and so Murray assured Nonis he wouldnt play Kassian. ' ' '