‘Sacramento Proud’: Kings make fourth-quarter stand to defend home court in win over 76ers
One of the more perplexing things about the Kings over the first half of the season has been their abysmal home record.
The Kings were a respectable 7-7 on the road over the first 33 games, but they were an unsightly 7-12 at home. Interim Kings coach Doug Christie is imploring his players to be better in front of their home crowd.
“Don’t nobody come in your house messing with your stuff, you feel what I’m saying?” Christie said. “This is where we reside, and when you come up in here, you’re going to feel us up in here. That’s just the way it is. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing like your home. These people deserve that and that’s what we’re going to give them.”
The Kings did exactly that on Wednesday, ending the game with a 15-0 run to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 113-107 before a frenzied crowd of 16,024 on at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“Super proud of these guys,” said Christie, who is 2-1 as interim coach since Mike Brown was fired on Friday. “That is the type of fight we expect on a night-to-night basis.”
De’Aaron Fox scored 35 points on an ultra-efficient 13-of-16 shooting for the Kings (15-19), who won their second game in a row under Christie after snapping a six-game losing streak. Fox scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, going 6 of 7 from the field.
Malik Monk scored 20 points. He went 8 of 8 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and 10 of 10 in the game.
DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points and came up with a clutch steal in the final seconds. Domantas Sabonis finished with 17 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists.
Sabonis said Christie — who played for the Kings from 2000-05 — has emphasized the importance of winning at home for a fan base that has embraced the team through good times and bad.
“He loves this city, he loves this franchise, and we all saw how the fans were tonight and last game,” Sabonis said. “That’s something we want to bring to every home game.”
Fox agreed.
“Obviously, every night that you come out, you want to be physical, you want to get the crowd behind you, you want to be able to get momentum and keep momentum,” Fox said. “At home, that’s a big thing. We have to be able to protect home court.”
Paul George had 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the 76ers (13-18), who had won four in a row and 10 of 13 after going 3-14 to start the season.
Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points for Philadelphia. Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 14.
The 76ers were missing some key players with former MVP Joel Embiid (foot), Jared McCain (knee), Kelly Oubre Jr. (hand) and KJ Martin (foot) out due to injuries.
The Kings were missing Keegan Murray, who was ruled out due to left ankle soreness.
Christie went with an unorthodox lineup with Murray out. Christie chose to start a three-guard lineup with Fox, Monk, Keon Ellis, DeRozan and Sabonis.
Ellis had nine points, four steals and two blocked shots.
“He’s amazing,” Sabonis said. “He’s a professional. He stays ready, and he’s always there when we need him, especially on defense.”
Christie urged his players to attack from the opening tip to avoid the slow starts that have plagued them at times this season.
“We want to come out and fire immediately,” Christie said. “As soon as the ball is thrown up, it’s all gas, no brakes.”
The Kings answered Christie’s call, going 7 of 10 from the field while jumping out to a 15-7 lead over the first five minutes, but then they went cold. The Kings missed 11 of their next 15 shots and found themselves trailing 30-25 at the end of the first quarter after Ellis fouled George on a 3-point attempt with 0.3 seconds remaining.
The 76ers went up 51-37 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Reggie Jackson and Gordon midway through the second quarter. The Kings responded with a 17-3 run to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Ellis.
The game was tied at 57 at the half after Fox hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Kings outscored the 76ers 28-22 on points in the paint, but the 76ers had a 16-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Philadelphia led by seven after outscoring Sacramento 10-3 to start the second half. The 76ers went up by nine midway through the third quarter and led 89-80 going into the fourth.
The Kings trailed 103-94 with five minutes remaining, but they outscored the 76ers 19-4 over the final 4:41 and 15-0 over the final 3:34.
“We couldn’t score,” Maxey said. “They took us out of a lot of the stuff we wanted to accomplish. Most of that was my fault, so I’ve got to do a better job at the end.”
Christie was asked after the game how pleased he was to see his team protect its home court.
“I think the word is proud,” Christie said. “Sacramento proud, I guess. That would probably be the word because during times like these, when all that has gone on has happened, there’s two things you can do. You can give up, you can let up, or you can get at it.
“These guys continue to come in, to respond, to listen and try to do what I’m asking because there’s a conditioning aspect to what I’m asking you to do. You have to play hard on both ends of the floor. As somebody who did that, I totally understand it, but as I told them, these fans deserve that. This is our house. We want to defend our house.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 10:56 PM.
