If we could expect a duel of leaders between De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Maxey, it is rather between Keegan Murray and Tyrese Maxey that we pull each other quite hard from the first quarter. The Kings winger was first in action with a two-handed baseline dunk, and he made 6 of his first 8 shots for 17 points in the period. But Maxey did even better by simply scoring Philly's first 16 points and even 21 of his team's 25 points, with an infernal 7/11 on shots including 4/6 from 3-point range! This allows Philly to keep pace with the Kings of Domantas Sabonis (31-25).
But the latter continued to push in the second quarter, in particular thanks to the entry into play of Davion Mitchell, who came out of his box to score 10 points in the period. Sacramento begins to make a gap, at +12 in this case, but the Sixers hang on. Maxey was 100% on shots during the period, but only on 2 attempts. Around him, only Tobias Harris and Paul Reed exceeded the 5 points scored at the break (60-48).
Philly crashes
Returning from the locker room is particularly difficult for the Sixers. Maxey now surrounded by the Californian defense, and Davion Mitchell in particular, Philadelphia can no longer find solutions in attack and can only score 5 small points in the first 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter! Like Tobias Harris next to the plate at 3/13, the Sixers clearly lack offensive options around Maxey. So much so that it is the last one signed, the returning DJ Wilson, who stands out with two 3-pointers in a row. Meanwhile, Sacramento continues its work of undermining and widens the gap (83-68).
Fox and Mitchell take care of putting the final touches to Sacramento's victory in the last quarter, while Philly falls to -22! Maxey's hot quarter already seems far in the past when we see Nurse open his bench in spite well before “money time”… With 8 points at 2/10 on shots, the veteran starters (Lowry, Bamba, Batum) have were transparent while opposite, Sabonis (11 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) still finished with a triple-double and Fox (23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) his team's top scorer. An easy victory for the Kings, the first against Philly since February 2019 (108-96).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Sacramento finally beats Philly. It had been eleven games and more than five years since the Kings last beat Philadelphia. Buddy Hield, now a Sixer, was playing for Sacramento at the time, that's saying something… But last night, the Kings made short work of the pale Sixers, so to speak, to return to a tie for 6th place in the Western Conference ( with Dallas playing in Sacramento this very night!).
– Domantas Sabonis, new NBA record holder. For his 54th consecutive double-double, Domantas Sabonis did it big, he saw triple! With 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, the Baltic pivot not only beat Kevin Love's historic record (for double-double in a row) but he also became the fifth player in history with at least 25 triple-doubles in a season (after Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic).
– The Sixers in danger. With only 4 victories in their last 12 games, Philadelphia is impatiently awaiting the return of Joël Embiid, and that's saying something! Relegated to the “play-in” zone in the East, the Sixers pulled off a nice coup by beating the Clippers the other evening. But they fell back heavily into their mistakes, without rhythm and offensive balance, and without much more defensive intensity, last night in Sacramento.
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
