The Philadelphia 76ers Tyrese Maxey (0) shows some confidence as the Sacramento Kings Sasha Venzenkov (7) runs in front up the court at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia on Fri Jan 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Sacramento Kings (25-25) lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (24-13) being outplayed at every turn. They trailed at the half 65-46 and the Sixers refused to letdown from start to finish. The Kings trailed close to twenty points throughout the entire fourth quarter. The final was 112-93.

Game recap: Philadelphia jumped all over the Kings in the first half of play. The Kings hung in the first quarter although ended up falling short as the quarter came to an end trailing 29-21. The Sixers began to really pour it on in the second quarter leading at halftime 65-46. 

They were outplaying the Kings offensively and the ten turnovers were also an issue. The Sixers had the advantage from the field as well as from beyond the arc. At the half Domantas Sabonis only had two points so Philadelphia had suffocated him. The Kings really struggled in the first two quarters of play and they had two quarters left to turn things around.

The third quarter was a close one which didn’t do much for the Kings cause since they had trailed by 19 points at the half. Sacramento had a huge mountain to climb if they wanted back in this game.

The Kings continued to turn the ball over and after three quarters had 14. Three’s were not falling for Sacramento only shooting 25% from downtown while the Sixers were at 52%. The Kings were having an improved offensive effort but weren’t able to provide many stops.

 Sacramento continued to plug away and after three quarters cut the Sixers lead to 87-73. The Kings won the third quarter 27-22 and they were also forcing Philadelphia turnovers.

Sacramento needed a whole lot more in the fourth quarter if they wanted to pull this game out and it would all start with more stops. It had been an uphill climb for the Kings all night as the 76ers continued their offensive dominance.

 Every time the Kings made a move the 76ers answered outscoring Sacramento 9-2 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter refusing to letup. The final was 112-93 and Philadelphia’s three game losing had come to an end.  

Tobias Harris was gave the Kings all sorts of problems finishing with 37 points. The absence of Embiid didn’t seem to hurt Philadelphia at least in this game. Tyrese Maxxy also gave Sacramento a lot of grief scoring 21 points.

It was a slow start for Sabonis although he did pick it up in the second half finishing with 12 rebounds and 14 points. The high for the Kings was De’Aaron Fox with 21 points. Sacramento had 17 turnovers were 8 of 38 from beyond the arc. It was not a great offensive night for Sacramento.

Post game notes: Friday night the Kings took on the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers came into this game sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference while the Kings are in fifth place in the Western Conference. 

The Kings won on Wednesday night beating the Hornets 123-98. The 76ers lost an overtime game on Wednesday losing to the Atlanta Hawks 139-132. They snapped their three game losing streak and they it without Joel Embiid who was out for a third straight game with a knee injury. 

The Kings have now lost two of their last six games with Friday night’s defeat and couldn’t take advantage of the absence of Joel Embiid. Sacramento has lost nine straight meetings against Philadelphia.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Kings heading into Milwaukee to take on the Bucks Sunday. The Bucks are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 4:00 PM.