return of the Kangz in New York<\/a>. Sounds like I really dodged a bullet on that one. After suffering what sounds like their worst loss of the season, the Kings had little time to wallow as they faced the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. Marking the start of the back end of this road trip, tonight’s matchup against the Sixers was the first of a brutal back-to-back for the Kings. And\u00a0Joel Embiid, averaging a career-high 33.4 points per game, was not expected to make this an easy night for the Beam Team. Let’s see how they did:<\/p>\nQuick Stats<\/h5>\n
Outcome<\/strong>: Kings lose, 103-123<\/p>\nSacramento Kings<\/strong>: 103 pts, 41.3% fg, 23.8% 3 pt, 85.0% ft, 21 ast, 48 reb, 17 to<\/p>\nPhiladelphia 76ers<\/strong>: 123 pts, 51.2% fg, 45.7% 3 pt, 77.8% ft, 34 ast, 42 reb, 12 to<\/p>\nI dodged Sunday’s bullet but got hit square between the eyes by tonight’s. That was pretty torturous. Joel Embiid took control early, living at the free throw line for most of the 1st quarter, and Philadelphia never let up after that. The Kings had a few runs here and there that made me raise an eyebrow, but nothing felt sustainable for them all night long.<\/p>\n
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly<\/h5>\nThe Good<\/h6>\n\n- Bench<\/strong>: Despite the return of De’Aaron Fox, the Kings starting unit struggled to find any flow or consistency together. The rare bursts of success the Kings did have mainly came from their bench. In one of the few categories they won, the Kings’ bench outscored Philly’s bench 47-29. Malik Monk (16 points) and Terence Davis (12 points) used their time on the floor to push the ball, look for quick offense, and capitalize on a Philly defense still on its heels. Much of the game was played in the slow, half court setting that Philly prefers, so the change of pace provided by the Kings’ bench put the Sixers out of their element and gave the Kings some of their best looks of the night.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The Bad<\/h6>\n\n- Ice Cold from 3<\/strong>: Although the Kings looked pretty bad overall, things could have been different if they didn’t happen to shoot absolutely horrendously from the 3-point line. Finishing just 10-42 tonight, the Kings suffered all night long from missed shots, long rebounds, and the Sixers consequently capitalizing in transition. The Sixers finished with 23 fast break points, most of which came off of the 32 long misses the Kings had from deep. The Kings got a lot of good looks, but weren’t able to convert. Had a few of those gone down at opportune moments, the Kings might have been able to use that momentum in their favor to make more meaningful runs. However, each of their runs were easily stymied by the Sixers once the Kings shooting dried up once again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n