By: Kylan Watson
The Sacramento Kings presented a unique challenge to the streaking Philadelphia 76ers. They had an athletic backcourt that presented various problems for Philly. They were younger and more athletic than Philly. The Sixers neutralized that advantage by using an offensive barrage to rout Sacramento 123-103.
Philly jumped on them from the opening tip-off, opening the game with a Joel Embiid fadeaway over a double team. He scored 16 of his 31-points by the end of the quarter. He got whatever he wanted from the field against the overmatched big men of Sacramento. He got every one of them in foul trouble and that lack of presence in the paint opened up opportunities for Tobias Harris. He scored 14 of his 21-points at the end of the first quarter as well. The duo led the way for the Sixers in the first half combining for 30-points by the end of the quarter. Putting the Kings in an early hole that they could not recover from.
Despite the offensive barrage from Harris and Embiid. The young Kings continued to do what they could to make it difficult for Philly, even though they were getting blown off the court. Domantas Sabonis led them, he scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He did not have much of an effect on this game thanks to Joel Embiid getting him into some early foul trouble. Despite that he continued to fight and do what he could to get his team back into the game. Philly just got a contribution from a lot more players than Sacramento and that was the difference in this game.
The Sixers bench even made an appearance tonight, as Matisse Thybulle scored 15-points and hit three three-pointers. He was the leading scorer as he got some time to play in the starting line-up tonight, and even showed that he may be developing three-point game. Thybulle made an argument that maybe he should play more as he was cutting to the basket to force the Kings to defend him. Instead of sagging off and clogging up the paint. If Philly can get something out of him that would add to a bench that is slowly but surely loading up. They will need them to keep their starters well rested.
Philly will now prepare for a primetime matchup on Friday night with the Golden State Warriors. If the Sixers wants to get their fourth straight victory of this homestand. They will need to stay attached to their man, limit the Warriors to one opportunity on the defensive end, and keep the ball moving to find a high-percentage shot on the offensive end. To get their 16th win of the season.
One thought on “Deposed Kings”