by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings had an 18 point lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with 8:46 to go in the third quarter of the game on Friday night. From that point on the Sixers started chipping away at the Sacramento lead until they took the lead 81-80 late in the third period. Philadelphia went on to defeat the Kings 114-107 in what is a stunning loss for the Kings.

When we looked at the Kings daunting eight game road trip and tried to project game outcomes, virtually every writer and commentator had Kings winning in Philly. Why not? The Sixers have consistently been one of the worst teams in the “the Association” all season. Some have even accused the Sixers of tanking because their performance has been so bad. So, predicting a Kings win versus the Sixers was a no brainer.

Then, you add to the mix the Kings big road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. Sacramento beat a team that is fighting for a playoff berth. That victory should have given the Kings the confidence and motivation to pick up their third win of the road trip in Philadelphia, but as the man said, “That’s why they play the game.”

The Sixers not only overcame an 18 point deficit but opened up a 13 point lead of their own in the fourth quarter. The Kings fought back and cut the Sixers lead to just three points with 1:15 left to play in the game.

The Sixers responded again to open up another solid lead. An alley-oop pass from Ish Smith to Nerlens Noel that resulted in an easy dunk with 41.9 seconds left in the game gave Philly 108-103 lead. The Sixers added six points off of free throws to seal the deal.

DeMarcus Cousins did everything he could do to lead his team to a win. Cousins scored 39 points in 40 minutes of playing time and added a career high 24 rebounds to his stats for the game. It was Cousins’ 40th double-double of the season.

Rudy Gay had a 24 point game while Derrick Williams added 15 of his own. Cousins, Gay and Williams were the only Kings to score in double figures. The Sacramento bench produced a meager 25 points.

Sacramento shot just 40.2-percent (35 for 87) from the floor. They were just four for 14 (28.6-percent) from 3-point range. The Kings went to free throw line 17 times more than the Sixers scoring 33 points from the line but it was not enough to bring them a victory.

The Kings turned the ball over 17 times and those miscues resulted in 27 Philadelphia points.

Robert Covington led the Sixers scoring with 24 points while Nerlens Noel put up 16. Jerami Grant scored 13. Mbah a Moute, Sampson, Thompson and Smith all scored 10 points apiece. The Sixers bench scored 47 points in the game.

Philadelphia shot 47.4-percent from the field (45 for 95).

Both teams are back in action on Saturday night. The Kings (22-41) have to play the Wizards in D.C. Washington is on a two game winning streak.

The Sixers (15-50) will host the Brooklyn Nets in a battle of non-playoff teams.