The Kings are in Philadelphia to take on the 76ers and try to keep their undefeated road trip going. The 76ers will be without Joel Embiid but this is still a tough place to play and an arena where the Kings haven’t won in since 2017.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Friday, January 12th, 4:30 PM PT
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Phildaelphia, PA
TV: ESPN, NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
The Kings and 76ers are facing off for the first time this season. Last year, the 76ers swept the season series, including a game in which the Joel Embiid-less 76ers came back from 21 points to beat the Kings. In fact, the 76ers have won the last eight matchups with Sacramento, with the Kings last win coming in February of 2019 when Buddy Hield scored a game-high 34 points.
Three in the Key
Opportunities
The 76ers are a very good team, but they are going to be without the services of the reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, which makes them a very different team. While they still have quality players like Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris among others, it is Embiid who drives this train forward and without him the 76ers are without their leading scorer, their leading rebounder, their second leading passer, and their best interior defender. Philadelphia is just 2-7 without Embiid this season. This is an opportunity the Kings need to take advantage of, especially given the strength of the remaining opponents on this road trip. Without Sabonis, the 76ers should be hard pressed to stop Domantas Sabonis inside or drives by any other Kings player.
Battle of Kentucky
Coach Cal sure knows how to recruit guards, and we’ll be seeing some prime examples of that tonight as both teams feature excellent Kentucky products.
Tyrese Maxey has ascended to stardom this season after finally being given the reins in the wake of the James Harden trade. Maxey is averaging a career-high 26.2 points, 6.7 assists and is playing a league leading 37.4 minutes a game. Without Embiid, he will be the 76ers primary offensive option and he’s shown this season that he can put up big time points, including a 50 point performance earlier this year against the Pacers.
The Kings have their own Kentucky guards though in De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, both of whom are also having career years. This should be a fun matchup.
Protect the Ball
The Sixers lead the league in Steals, led by shooting guard De’Anthony Melton who averages 1.7 a game. As a result, the 76ers are among the league leaders in fastbreak points at 17.2 a game. The Kings have had some bad losses of late thanks to an excess of turnovers, particularly unforced ones, so they’ll need to do an extra careful job of making sure not to give the Sixers too many extra chances by handing them the ball.
Prediction
The Kentucky showcase is just as exciting as could be expected for a national audience with both Fox and Maxey scoring over 30 points and Malik Monk dropping in 20 himself. However without Embiid the 76ers have no answer for Domantas Sabonis and he leads the way with another triple-double to keep the Kings undefeated road trip alive.
Kings 127, 76ers 121
