Philadelphia 76ers’ Tobias Harris goes up for a dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. (AP News photo)

Kings Embarrassed By 76ers 123-103

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday night the Philadelphia 76ers (15-12) hosted the Sacramento Kings (14-12) at Wells Fargo Center. The Kings are in fifth place in the Western Conference playing some great basketball right now although they did lose their last game to the Knicks 112-99. Prior to that Sacramento beat the Cavaliers 106-95. The Kings just couldn’t hold on and lost by a big margin to the Sixers Tuesday night 123-103.

The Kings trailed at the end of the first quarter 39-32. They needed to make a push in the second and do their best to contain Joel Embiid who already had 16 points to start the quarter. Tobias Harris had shot for 15 points. Turnovers were hurting the Kings already with seven early in the second quarter.

Not a single King had double digits through the opening quarter. Philadelphia went on an 11-0 run early in the second quarter and extended their lead to 53-35. The Kings had a huge hole to dig out of. That hole continued to grow and at the half the Kings had given up 80 points in the first half. They trailed 80-55 in an absolute blow-out.

The Kings continued to trail through the third quarter. They just were not able to get on top of Philadelphia. Embiid continued his rampage shooting for 29 points through three while Harris and James Harden each had 17 points. The Kings did have a better quarter and a 17-7 run but the 76ers had a 101-83 lead after three.

The embarrassment continued through the fourth quarter. Poor shooting, poor defense, turnovers and barely a triple in sight, although they did hit a few more in the second half, was all Sacramento could manage. The game had turned into a glorified practice for the 76ers.

De’Aaron Fox just wasn’t on task only shooting for 13 points. Domantas Sabonis had the high score with 22. Malik Monk had 16 off the bench and Terence Davis had 12. The Kings just could not handle Embiid who finished with 31 points followed by Harris and Harden both with 21 points.

The Kings will continue on their road trip taking on the Toronto Raptors tomorrow. They will try to put this game behind them. Tipoff is schedule for 4:30 PM.