After yet another missed opportunity for a win on the road, the Kings will be looking to pick up the pieces on Wednesday night as they go on to Philadelphia to take the Sixers. Anchored in the middle by Rookie of the Year contender Joel Embiid and loaded with you talent from ceiling to floor, the Sixers are a young, smart squad looking to make yet another step towards being a winning team. Let’s talk Kings basketball.

When: Wednesday, November 30th; 4:00 pm PST

Where: Wells Fargo Center, CSN-CA, KHKT Sports 1140 AM

Breaking Down the Sixers

Offense: Helmed by fourth year coach, Brett Brown, the Sixers are a team that struggles to find ways to put the ball in the basket. Scoring under 98 points a game, the Sixers are 24th in the league in points per game, and to make matters worse, the Sixers shoot only 43.4% from the field on a given night, the 7th worst percentage in the league. They do have one positive aspect to their offensive game and it just so happens to correlate to a glaring Kings weakness: the Sixers are a very good three point shooting team. They’re fifth in the league in three pointers made a game, sixth in attempts, and eighth in the entire league in three point percentage, coming in at 36.6%. As of Wednesday night’s game, there are six players on the Sixers that are shooting above 40% from three, and rookie center Joel Embiid, leads the team in percentage at exactly 50%. Beyond their shooting behind the arc, the Sixers are the sixth worst team from shooting for two, are the fourth worst team in free throw attempts and percentage and are dead last in turnovers, coughing the ball up at rate of just under 18 times a game. Though and through, these are all the hallmarks of a young team still trying to figure out the NBA, and the Kings should really, really take advantage of that.

Defense: On the defensive end, the Sixers still aren’t anything to write home about. Giving up just a hair under 108 points a game, Philly is the sixth worst in opponents points per game. They’re fourth in the league in blocked shots, and ninth in steals and that’s just about where the positives end. The Sixers give up the fourth most two point field goal attempts, and allow teams to shoot 50.4% from the field. They also allow teams to shoot 35% from three point territory on the eleventh most attempts. Another issue arises in that they are fifth in the league in player fouls. The Sixers do have two players averaging over two blocks a game in Jerami Grant and Joel Embiid, however, past those two, only Jahlil Okafor is averaging over one, and with the minute restriction on Embiid still in place, the Kings can really take advantage of the youth on this team.

Kings Focus: The Kings focus this game should be getting out of the gate early, and getting out of the gate fast. With Dave Joerger still toying with the lineups, and with a Kosta Koufos/DeMarcus Cousins front court that really hasn’t meshed too well together on the court, a cohesive starting five has yet to really come onto the floor this season and start a game hot. Against a team like the Sixers, a fast start could put them out of it early. Allowing the Sixers any sort of hope, giving them any sort of notion that they could end up winning them game could end up biting the Kings on the butt. Everyone remembers the Sixers game from last year right? You don’t? Oh, good.

DeMarcus should be able to feast this game. Embiid has shown so much promise early this season, but he’s still on a minutes restriction. On top of that he’s still young. Getting a big body like Embiid out early could spell trouble for the Sixers. Richaun Holmes is a good player, but not one that could lock down Boogie. Jahlil Okafor isn’t going to stop him either.

On the defensive end, the Kings can’t have any other goal than just close out on three point shooters. I swear, someday the Kings will have a competent defense that will make life difficult for shooters, and when that day comes I might just turn to sand and blow away, having seen a true miracle and no longer needing to spend time in this place. Luckily for me, and the two people that read these previews, today will not be the day that I see that defense. If the Kings can’t contain the shooters that the Sixers have today, they’re in for a really long night. Brett Brown’s Sixers team is one that is too young and dumb to know that they should lose a game like this, so the Kings will have to make sure they understand it right from the start.

Prediction: The Kings and Sixers will come together before the game and decide that instead of a game, they’ll have a three point contest between centers to see who wins the game, as well as the ultimate shooting center. Joel Embiid will get through four racks before stopping to tweet something about his self given nickname, “The Process”. DeMarcus will end up scoring hitting more threes but as he walks off the court he’ll bump into Rudy Gay who is coming in to celebrate the win with a flying hug. The refs will see this, assess a flagrant two on DeMarcus and Embiid will be declared the winner.

Kings: 109, Sixers: 99