By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers started the first half of their mid-week back-to-back, facing the drama ridden Sacramento Kings who were desperate for a victory. Despite dominating much of this contest, Philly turned the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter. That proved to be their undoing as the Kings were able to score two big buckets that helped them beat Philly 113-107.

The Sixers were able to find their offensive rhythm early once again in this contest, led by Paul George who finally ended his shooting slump. Philly got him involved early and often throughout this contest and that led to a 30-point scoring night for him. He was able to overpower the smaller Kings defenders and was able to get them in foul trouble early in this contest. An aggressive George creates a lot of points for himself and his teammates. However, George has been getting into foul trouble on the defensive end because of his over aggressiveness and some 50/50 foul calls that put him in bad positions.

George will need to realize that he is one of the best defenders Philly has on their roster and will need to be more cautious with using his fouls. Especially, on nights like tonight where Joel Embiid is not on the floor. Everyone needs to step up and do their part and the Sixers just did not get enough of that when it mattered most in the fourth quarter of tonight’s contest.

The Kings to their credit continued to battle back despite the Sixers leading throughout most of this contest. De’Aaron Fox (35 points) and Malik Monk (20 points) refused to let the Kings drop another game on their home floor. The duo combined for 55 of Sacramento’s 113 points and they were able to hit the big shots to get their team back in this game. For example, on a pivotal Sixers turnover it was Fox who attacked the rim and was able to hit a lay-up to cut the Sixers lead to four points, and it was Monk who got a pivotal goal contending call to go his way and put Sacramento permanently in front in this game.

This was a winnable game that the Sixers let get away from them thanks to poor decision making in the fourth quarter. Having eight turnovers in one quarter is unacceptable especially when you are taking an 8-point lead into the final quarter of play and have a small margin for error throughout the rest of this season. Tyrese Maxey and Paulo George both made pivotal mistakes during this contest. After making multiple hustle plays throughout the period George passed the ball instead of putting a shot up, that led to a shot clock violation which led to the Kings scoring at the other end of the floor. Then late in the fourth quarter Tyrese Maxey tried to split a double team and got his pocket picked which created a DeMar DeRozan lay-up which tied this game.

Philly’s fourth quarter execution left a lot to be desired and that must improve if they want to make a deep playoff run in the postseason. Luckily for them they get another opportunity tomorrow night against the Golden State Warriors. In addition, they should have Embiid available for that game, but the Sixers must communicate and limit their turnovers against another team desperate for a victory. Their defensive communication must be on point against Stephen Curry and the rest of the Warriors three-point shooters.

Implementing these things into their game plan should put the Sixers in great position to win their 14^th game of the season and continue to build momentum before the upcoming All-Star Game break.