RECAP: Sacramento Kings 109, Philadelphia 76ers 108
The Philadelphia 76ers lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. The tough loss snapped the Sixers’ five game winning streak, as they now fall to 6-5 on the year.
It wasn’t a particularly “pretty” game in Sacramento for the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, as almost every development in this game pointed towards a disappointing loss for a young Sixers team. Ben Simmons missed almost the entirety of the third quarter with 4 fouls, and Joel Embiid nearly gave all of Philadelphia a heart attack with his non-contact fall to the hardwood at the end of the third quarter (he would be okay).
An extremely strong shooting performance from Robert Covington kept the Sixers in contention early, as the Kings lit it up from outside, pouring in 64 points in the first half. J.J. Redick got hot for a stretch in the third quarter as well, en route to another solid game for the veteran sharpshooter.
Again, the Philadelphia 76ers young core struggled to get it done in crunch time, as they’ve shown can be an issue in the early part of the 2017 NBA season. Timely buckets from Embiid, Simmons, and Covington guided this effort up until the last minute, when another breakdown occurred. De’Aaron Fox nailed a jumper with 15 seconds left, and Embiid missed one on the other end, giving the Kings the 109-108 victory.
Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID. B. 32 mins | 22 pts | 15 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 3 blk | 5 TO | 7-20 FG | 1-4 3PT| 7-8FT | 3 PF | +7 +/-| <strong>Summary</strong>: Embiid looked extremely out of sorts in the first half especially, probably due to his extended absence this past week due to “load management.” He did rebound the ball well and looked much better in the second half scoring and defending, but this was definitely not one of Embiid’s trademark games.. C
Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS. B-. 27 mins | 18 pts | 2 reb | 6 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 4 TO | 6-8 FG | 0-0 3PT| 6-8 FT | 5 PF | +4 +/-| <strong>Summary:</strong> Like Embiid, this was not one of Ben Simmons’ better games this season. Sure, he wasn’t on the floor much due to foul trouble, but some costly turnovers late and a subpar defensive effort from Simmons summarizes his tough night.. PG
SF. Philadelphia 76ers. ROBERT COVINGTON. A+. 35 mins | 24 pts | 7 reb | 0 ast | 1 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 7-16 FG | 6-12 3PT| 4-5 FT | 4 PF | +6 +/-| <strong>Summary:</strong> RoCo absolutely did his thing tonight. His back-to-back and-1 threes in the second quarter were just one example of the kind of game he had. Covington was tremendous defensively, per usual.
Philadelphia 76ers. JJ REDICK. C+. 33 mins | 14 pts | 4 reb | 5 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 6-13 FG | 2-6 3PT| 0-0 FT | 3 PF | -2 +/-| <strong>Summary: </strong>Redick didn’t have a huge impact on this game, except for his short hot streak in the 3rd quarter. He possibly passed up an open three on the final possession of the game, and missed a couple of timely threes throughout the game. Expect a big performance from him Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.. SG
DARIO SARIC. B. 34 mins | 13 pts | 10 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 2 TO | 5-12 FG | 3-8 3PT| 0-2 FT | 3 PF | -2 +/-| <strong>Summary: </strong>Saric followed up his big game against the Utah Jazz Tuesday with an average performance. He did an excellent job on the glass, and hit some huge threes in the second half. However, Saric seemed overpowered in the first half against <a rel=. PF. Philadelphia 76ers
Sixers Bench Struggles with Simmons in Foul Trouble
One of the more noticeable struggles for the Philadelphia 76ers in this game was the lack of overall bench production from anyone. Although Justin Anderson was a bright spot with 10 rebounds, no one else really contributed to the game in a big way. These guys will absolutely need to step up in the future, as Simmons and Embiid will often face foul trouble in the majority of games.
Not to Worry
This young 76ers team will figure it out eventually. Closing games isn’t easy at any level of basketball, especially with everything magnified at the NBA level. With playoff hopes and aspirations, the quality of being able to close games will be important for this young time come April and May.
Next, in a huge test on Saturday evening in the Bay Area, the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Golden State Warriors in the first of two meetings between the squads this season.