Kings gameday live: Interim coach Alvin Gentry says shorthanded 76ers ‘kicked our ass’
The Kings achieved a new level of embarrassment in Alvin Gentry’s interim coaching debut Monday night at Golden 1 Center, falling 102-94 to a Philadelphia 76ers squad that was missing most of its best players.
Joel Embiid was still sidelined with COVID-19. Tobias Harris was out with hip soreness. Ben Simmons was out for personal reasons while he awaits a trade, Seth Curry sat out due to back stiffness and Danny Green missed the game with hamstring tightness. None of that stopped the Kings from hitting another new low a day after Luke Walton was fired for their ineptitude.
“We can either improve or we’ve got to start looking to play different people,” Gentry said. “That’s the solution, really. If we can’t get it done with the people we have out there, obviously as a coach I’ve got to decide on different people being out there. … The bottom line is they kicked our ass.”
Tyrese Maxey scored 24 points for the 76ers (10-8), who had lost six of seven without Embiid. Andre Drummond had 23 rebounds. Matisse Thybulle, who had scored in double figures only once this season, finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
De’Aaron Fox scored 23 points to lead the Kings (6-12), who have lost eight of their last nine games. Buddy Hield came off the bench to add 21 points and nine rebounds. Richaun Holmes had 18 points and eight rebounds. The rest of the team combined for 32 points on 11-of-39 (.282) shooting.
“When you play a team that’s really depleted right now, and you’re playing them at home, you can’t expect to win,” Gentry said. “You have to win and we didn’t do that.”
Gentry speaks
Gentry talked about defense, rebounding, playing with pace and trying to get to the playoffs, but he didn’t promise a lot of changes during his first pregame news conference.
“There’s not a whole lot that’s going to change from the standpoint of what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re trying to do,” Gentry said. “It’s just getting the players to perform at a higher level and then, obviously, finding a way to complete games.”
“… We’re not going to come in as a staff and completely overhaul what we’ve been doing because what we’ve been doing is something that everybody agreed upon as a coaching staff and stuff we believed in. For us, it’s just about getting the players to perform at a higher level and that will eventually equate into wins.”
Injury updates
The 76ers already had enough problems, but their injury woes worsened when Harris and Curry were both ruled out for Monday’s game.
Harris was ruled out due to the hip injury. Curry was ruled out with back stiffness, joining a star-studded injury report that already included Embiid, Green and Simmons.
Halftime report
There was a smattering of boos as the Kings went to the locker room trailing 55-52 at the half.
Buddy Hield scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. De’Aaron Fox had 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 12 points. Andre Drummond was killing the Kings on the boards with 11 rebounds.
Philadelphia 76ers at Sacramento Kings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sports 1140 KHTK
Odds: Kings -2.5
Over/under: 220
Injury report
76ers: OUT — Seth Curry (back); Joel Embiid (health and safety protocols); Danny Green (hamstring); Tobias Harris (hip); Aaron Henry (G League); Grant Riller (G League); Ben Simmons (personal); Jaden Springer (G League).
Kings: OUT — Louis King (G League); Neemias Queta (G League); Jahmi’us Ramsey G League); Robert Woodard II (G League).
Note: Check back for updates with the latest news, notes, quotes and injury updates before, during and after tonight’s game between the Kings and 76ers.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
