The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Sacramento Kings 102-100. Joel Embiid was not able to make a 3 pointer at the buzzer to win it, but played one of his best games against one of the best centers/big men in the league. That counts for something. This may have ended up being a loss on the coaching staff.
The Sixers started off slow and it appeared they would be blown out trailing 4-13. But, they came back and the first quarter went pretty well. Joel Embiid and DeMarcuse Cousins had a butt smack-off. This is not a joke. They ran up the court smacking each other on the butt. Just a very interesting scene. Sixers locked it up at 34, but ended up down 36-44. They ended the first half down 47-51. They finally had their first lead in the 3rd quarter.
To be real, it was the Embiid vs Cousins show. They went head to head and Embiid held his own nicely. It was fun to watch them go at it and the fact that Embiid looked solid against probably the best center in the league is a great sign for this kid.
In the end, it seemed like this game was lost early in the 4th quarter. Embiid went out and the Sixers went with Jahlil Okafor who proceeded to be a non-factor in defending the paint for the Sixers. The Sixers had the lead but lost it quickly. It seemed like Nerlens Noel would have been a better option in that scenario. Noel did play a little bit and immediately made a defensive impact for the Sixers.
Embiid finished with 25 points and 8 rebounds. He also had 2 blocks. Cousins had 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. As said before, Embiid did a really good job of going at Cousins and not backing down from the challenge. It was close, but Embiid might have won that matchup. Either way, it was fun.
Another Sixers rookie came in, in the 3rd quarter and really helped the Sixers get a lead. By the end of the 3rd quarter, the Sixers were up 7 and Dario Saric led a big charge to get that lead. He had 12 points and 9 rebounds.
As stated in the preview, the Kings have been coming back from 4th quarter deficits. Also, the Sixers have given up solid leads. That's exactly what happened. The Sixers were up by 7 to start the 4th quarter but, again, once Embiid went out and Okafor came in, nothing really stopped the Kings from getting buckets in the paint. Cousins went to town.
This was a fun game if you're a big Embiid fan. Thankfully, it didn't go into OT, especially considering Embiid went over his minutes restriction and it's really late over here on the East coast.
Sixers next play against the Jazz in this road trip.
