Joel Embiid powers Philadelphia 76ers past Sacramento Kings despite De’Aaron Fox’s return
The Kings welcomed point guard De’Aaron Fox back to the lineup following a two-game injury absence, but they didn’t welcome the sight of Joel Embiid.
Embiid recorded his fifth consecutive 30-point game to power the Philadelphia 76ers to a 123-103 victory over the Kings on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center, Sacramento’s biggest loss of the season.
Embiid posted 31 points and seven rebounds for the 76ers (15-12), who have won three in a row. James Harden had 21 points, seven rebounds, 15 assists and five steals. Tobias Harris added 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
Domantas Sabonis produced his fifth consecutive double-double and his NBA-leading 18th of the season for the Kings (14-12), finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Malik Monk came off the bench to score 16 points.
Fox was held to 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He watched the end of the game from the bench with Sacramento’s other starters after coach Mike Brown waived the white flag with over six minutes remaining.
Brown lamented his team’s inability to match the physicality of the opposition in recent losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks. The same thing happened in Philadelphia. Sacramento now faces another daunting task on its current six-game road trip with a rested Toronto Raptors team waiting to play the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back Wednesday.
“Embiid was a load for us,” Brown told reporters in Philadelphia. “We didn’t do a great job on our double-teams and he helped them create separation in the first half with his ability to score. We have to figure some things out. We’ve got to dig a little deeper than we are right now and see if we can go get a win in Toronto tomorrow.”
Sacramento got some good news on the injury front while Philadelphia received bad news in the hours leading up to the game. A little over 90 minutes before tipoff, a league source told The Sacramento Bee Fox had been cleared to return after missing two games due to right foot soreness. Meanwhile, the 76ers announced guard De’Anthony Melton (back) and small forward Danuel House (foot) had been ruled out.
The loss of Melton seemed significant for a 76ers squad that was already missing guard Tyrese Maxey, who is out with a fracture in his left foot. Melton is averaging 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 39.4% from 3-point range on 5.9 attempts per game.
Matisse Thybulle started in place of Melton, who had been starting in place of Maxey. Thybulle, a defensive specialist who usually doesn’t provide much offensively, was whistled for two fouls in the first 37 seconds of the game.
That paled in comparison to the foul trouble the Kings found themselves in after Sabonis and Keegan Murray picked up two fouls in the first 4:30. When Sabonis went to the bench at the 7:36 mark in the first quarter, Brown called on two-way center Neemias Queta, who made his season debut after being called up from the G League on Monday.
Kings fans and Queta’s countrymen in Portugal were eager to see the 7-footer, who is averaging 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 blocks in 14 G League games this season. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to see much. Queta was called for three fouls in his first two minutes, forcing Brown to go back to Sabonis, who picked up his third foul in the first minute of the second quarter.
The beneficiary of most of those calls was Embiid, who went to the free-throw line 11 times in the first half. The Kings were only down by four early in the second period, but the 76ers staged a 23-2 run to open up a 28-point lead.
Sacramento trailed 80-55 at the end of an unsightly opening half. The 76ers shot 59.1% from the field and made 10 of 19 (.526) from 3-point range. The Kings shot just 41.3% from the field and made 4 of 25 (.167) from beyond the arc while accumulating more turnovers (12) than assists (9).
Embiid had 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting at the break. Fox wasn’t nearly as effective, scoring just six points on 2-of-9 shooting, including 1 of 5 from 3-point range.
The Kings staged a 14-2 run to get within 15 late in the third quarter, but they never got any closer.
“Tough night for us,” Brown said. “Tough night for our group. I thought early foul trouble didn’t help our rhythm, and we don’t have any control over the officials. They’re going to make the call that they need to make, or that they feel is right, and maybe they’re the right calls or maybe they’re not. I don’t know, but I felt that fouls did take us out of rhythm.
“That wasn’t the only thing. We did not play the right way, especially in that second quarter. Defensively, I thought we had a ton of breakdowns. We didn’t come help on any drives. They got to the rim very easily. They got out in transition against us. I think they had 20 fastbreak points in the first half alone. … They average around 13 a game, but they had 20 for the half.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 7:12 PM.
