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No game has ever had more “January night in Orlando” vibes than this one. Of course, the Sixers ended it with a game-winner in the final seconds.
Philadelphia escaped with a 113-111 win over the Sacramento Kings Thursday night.
Tyrese Maxey found his three-point shot again, leading all scorers with 40 points, including the go-ahead layup, while shooting 12-of-18 from the floor. Joel Embiid looked like his old self in that he put up 37 points and five rebounds on 13-of-21 shooting in a casual effort.
Paul George had his moments with the second unit, going for 15 points while shooting 7-of-15 from floor. VJ Edgecombe faded into the background again with five points, three assists and five rebounds. Dennis Schroder led the Kings with 27.
Quentin Grimes missed his second straight game with an ankle sprain while Sacramento was without Malik Monk, Russell Westbrook and Keegan Murray.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- Maxey was certainly feeling it at the start of this one. After burying a midrange turnaround to get the Sixers on the board, he nailed a step-back three on back-to-back possessions before his heat check on his third try rolled off the rim.
- The rest of his team started just 1-of-6 from the field. Embiid hit a bank shot to start but wasn’t getting positioning on Domantas Sabonis every time down the floor like he wanted. He did have an easier time pushing around rookie Dylan Cardwell, getting to the free throw line a couple of times in the process.
- DeMar DeRozan led the start for the Kings making four of his first five shots of the night, including their first three of the evening. After Maxey and Embiid had done most of the Sixers scoring, Kelly Oubre Jr. picked up a couple of baskets, but also fouled DeRozan with a half second left, giving him free throws to pull within three.
Second Quarter
- PG seems to have really found a groove for the beginning of second quarters — he started another one off with a pair of jumpers falling. Jared McCain got early minutes again but he hardly touched the ball his first few minutes, with so many guys feeling good in isolation it didn’t find him. He made a nice bounce pass off a drive to Dominick Barlow who got fouled. He turned it over trying to kick out of his next drive and his first three-point attempt of the night rimmed out.
- DeRozan continued to knife his way into midranges and free throws. He helped put the Sixers in the bonus about halfway through the quarter. Maxey continued to one-up him on the other end, trying to put Schroder on ice skates before burying a step-back three on every possession. Maxey put up 22 going 7-of-10 in the half.
- Perhaps he was looking to match his pal in highlights, but for some reason Embiid tried this move going to the basket, somehow getting it to fall. Justin Edwards saw some floor time again when Edgecombe, who looked to be experiencing some discomfort in the half, made a brief trip to the locker room. Edwards got two wide open threes swung to him from Embiid, making the first. Oubre got himself wide open off a cut right before the half ended, but he smoked the dunk, leaving the Sixers lead at six at the break.
Third Quarter
- Embiid was in a rhythm to start the half, hitting a couple midrange jumpers before steamrolling his way to a layup on which he got fouled on as well. Unsurprisingly, Maxey was getting heavily double teamed and picked up full-court, but Embiid was able to hit him with a really nice bounce pas off a give-and-go.
- The Sixers had yet to take Sacramento out of a rhythm all night as well. DeRozan, still beating his man off the dribble, started to find Sabonis for some open dump-offs near the basket. On top of that they were crushing the Sixers on the offensive glass, getting out to a 19-0 advantage in second-chance points. That Kings’ pairing continued to pick up buckets inside before a Schroder three briefly gave them their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
- McCain definitely needed to rebound from his first half shift and getting all the way to the cup was a good start. Fouling Keon Ellis just as he was receiving the inbound wasn’t though. He was able to muscle his way into a midrange a few minutes later as the Kings continued to surge. With Embiid off the floor the Sixers really struggled with rebounding and size, but it was an Ellis three that beat the buzzer and keep the Kings up by four.
Fourth Quarter
- Due to those aforementioned struggles, Nick Nurse swapped out Adem Bona for Andre Drummond, though he couldn’t stop Maxime Raynaud and Precious Achuiwa from scoring either. To make matters worse, the Sixers had some brutal turnovers after possessions where they actually did get stops. McCain was too unaware coming up the floor and got his pocket picked from behind. George and Edgecombe both got too cute with passes with the defense still scrambling. Boos rained down on the arena when the Sixers called a timeout with 8:13 remaining.
- All night offensively the Sixers had been more reliant on their stars getting hot rather than execution and that had caught up with them as well. They went over three minutes without a field goal after George got two quick baskets to start the quarter. Maxey broke that driving in for a layup before Embiid started getting to the line trip after trip down the floor. Being able to box out against the Kings’ smaller starting lineup helped them finally get them stops again.
- With Embiid baskets slowly clawing them back, the Sixers finally went up by one again thanks to the lane clearing for Maxey as he drove to the basket, prompting a Sacramento timeout. After playing solid defense for most of the possession, both Edgecombe and Oubre both followed DeRozan off a screen, leaving Zach LaVine wide open for a three to retake the lead.
- After both teams missed jumpers, Maxey pushed the ball up the floor and got fouled on his layup attempt, tying the game with 27 seconds left. DeRozan shifted by Oubre but his pull-up was too long, Embiid secured the rebound and a timeout with 5.2 to go. The initial inbound by Edgecombe was a struggle to get in, the Kings knocked it out of bounds. Oubre took the second one, hitting Embiid at the free throw line who passed it to Maxey rushing down the floor. Maxey beat everyone to the cup, getting the layup to go and get fouled in the process. With the Kings having no timeouts left he still tried to make the free throw. Missing it out probably worked out better for him though as LaVine’s heave didn’t come close.
