76ers vs. Kings: Paul George's buckets not enough to prevent choke job

01/02/2025 12:36 AM

The Philadelphia 76ers (13-18) brought a four-game winning streak into their first matchup of the season with the Sacramento Kings (15-19), though Joel Embiid was ruled out on the first night of a back-to-back. The Sixers started 2025 with a nasty choke job, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and losing 113-107.

The 76ers made easy work of the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game, beating them easily. But with Embiid hitting the bench, the Sixers’ path to winning was made more difficult. Kelly Oubre Jr. missed his first game of the season, elevating Kyle Lowry to the starting lineup, while interim head coach Doug Christie replaced the injured Keegan Murray with Keon Ellis.

PG gets back on track

This was a great opportunity for George to get right.

George hasn't made half of his field-goal attempts for six games coming into tonight. He committed 10 fouls over his last two games and has struggled to uplift the offense as both a primary creator and a co-creator with Embiid and Maxey.

George got it going early, hitting four of his first five shots. He had 11 of Philly’s first 18 points and both he and Caleb Martin hit a trick shot in the first quarter. But PG-8 still couldn't avoid foul trouble, tallying two fouls in the opening period. He was subbed back in for the final offensive possession, drew a foul on a three-point attempt and sunk all three of his free throws.

Matched up with De’Aaron Fox a few times after switches to start the second quarter, George used his size advantage to establish post position. Sacramento conceding that size mismatch made it much easier for George to get into his bag and set up teammates on spot-up looks. In 14 minutes of playing time, George had 20 points on 11 shots.

However, as George scored his 19th and 20th points, he hit the deck hard and didn't get up for the ensuing defensive possession. Falling right on his back left him in a lot of pain. He put on a heating pad and was subbed out for a few minutes. The fall didn't put a damper on the fantastic game he was in the midst of.

Not only did George hit his shots but he bumped up his volume on shots at the rim. It was ultimately his aggression that made it happen but also the 76ers’ spaced-out offense and early motions. When he got deep into the paint, he was excellent. His three-point shooting was great, too.

George fouled out and went cold at the worst time in the fourth quarter. Despite the sour ending, this performance was promising. He ended it with 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 11-20 shooting.

Tyrese Maxey picked up the slack in the second half, though his poor first half kept the Sixers from building a safe enough lead. e ended the night with 27 points and five steals.

Stopping Fox, Sabonis and Derozan

No one pegged the Kings as title favorites this season but they have performed better than their poor record suggests. They’ve got a good offense led by a dynamic scorer/playmaker in Fox, leaving the 76ers with plenty to handle on defense.

The Kings made seven of their first 10 shots, scoring with five feet of the hoop on five of those looks. Domantas Sabonis feasted inside the paint against a small Sixers lineup, reeling in offensive boards and bullying his way to the hoop. The Sixers invited some of those problems themselves by going to a switch-heavy scheme that pulled Guerschon Yabusele off of the Kings center way too easily. Nonetheless, Sabonis was tough to keep away from the rim all night.

Caleb Martin got the Fox assignment to start the night, though the Kentucky product also bullied the Sixers with the proper mismatches. A player so quick is going to put pretty much anyone who guards him on their heels. Indeed, he dashed into the paint consistently to score with dexterity and toughness.

DeMar DeRozan did his thing, scoring in the mid-range like clockwork, but he didn't shoot enough to get the Kings out in front. He was opportunistic in an offense that's just in its third game with its current head coach.

The Kings went on big scoring runs to crawl back into a game that they trailed by as much as 14 in the first half. Sixers misses were often met with buckets from Sacramento. Even if they're no longer the Beam Team that runs like nobody's business, they have the personnel to be tough to stop on fast breaks. The Sixers learned the hard way that the Kings are still dangerous.

4th quarter horrors

The Kings completely owned the 76ers in the fourth quarter, winning the period 33-18. Sacramento exercised some huge demons in the final 12 minutes. Crunch time haunted them this season. They kept it close enough to the Sixers before unleashing their attack in the final few minutes, striking at the right time to steal the win away.

Fox started to percolate in the fourth quarter, narrowing the 76ers’ lead little by little. He snaked his way into the paint and scored with machine-like precision, giving the Kings a chance to snatch the victory out from under their guests. That set up his teammates expertly for shots, too, and they came through. He had 14 points in the final period, ending his night with 35 total.

Defensively, the Kings put an extra pep in their step. They forced the Sixers into a shot-clock violation and started to blitz Maxey, forcing a turnover that allowed DeRozan to tie the game with a breakaway layup. Philly’s defense, conversely, was not sharp. Yabusele gave Sacramento the lead by committing a goal-tending violation on a hectic, contested layup. What was probably a miss resulted in two points for the Kings.

The Sixers squirmed harder on offense, losing any composure and failing to score a single point in the last 3:34 of the game. In that same span, the Kings rattled off 15 points. Philly’s reliance on high-end talent to make everything happen comes with the drawback of having no options when they can't deliver.

Down by two with under 30 seconds left, the Sixers set up a play that got George driving into the paint. He lost control of the ball and went on to commit his sixth foul at the end of what was otherwise a great defensive possession. Just as they were about to force their own shot-clock violation and regain control, George hit Malik Monk as he went up for a layup.

Kyle Lowry put a bow on things by turning the ball over to his close friend, DeRozan, on the 76ers’ last chance.

The 76ers are back in action tomorrow night against the Golden State Warriors.

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