By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (6-4) are in Sacramento on Thursday night for a match-up with De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and the Kings (2-8) with tip-off scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET. The Sixers come in winners of five straight games while the Kings have lost seven of their last eight, but are fresh off a win against Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here's a look at some of the story-lines going into tonight's game…
Guess who's back? Biid is back!
The Sixers lost their first Embiid-less game against Toronto earlier in the season by 34 points. On Tuesday, they won their first game without Embiid, even with all three big men being in foul trouble all game long. Embiid will be a fresh body, having not played in nearly a week, so expect him to come out and hold nothing back as he's had time to recharge and get ready for the remainder of the Sixers' road-trip.
Embiid, 23, is averaging 20.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game in addition to 4.4 turnovers. He's shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and a less than ideal 24 percent from beyond the arc.
Robert Covington having best season yet…
If there's one guy who's benefitted from the addition of JJ Redick, its Robert Covington. The attention Redick commands leaves Covington open more often and he's taking full advantage of every opportunity he gets. Covington is actually the most effective catch-and-shoot player in the NBA at this point in the season.
Robert Covington has been the league's most efficient high-volume catch and shoot guy so far this year, and it's not particularly close. https://t.co/7wnO8qfEkN pic.twitter.com/trVgYhdoMW
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) November 9, 2017
Covington is averaging 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 48.6 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range. The Sixers are a much more effective team with him on the court, a +9.5 to be exact. They are a -15.3 without him.
Scouting the Kings…
The Kings scored just 10 points in the first quarter of their last game against Oklahoma City, but came out with a 94-86 victory, their second of the season. Zach Randolph scored all of his 18 points in the second half and Buddy Hield finished with 21 points.
Buddy Hield has been solid to start the season, averaging 12.3 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 42.5 percent from the floor. He's started seven of the King's 10 games. Meanwhile, rookie De'Aaron Fox has been a bench guy for Sacramento this season. He's averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from three.
Veteran forward Zach Randolph leads the Kings in scoring with 12.8 points per game. In addition to the 36-year-old Randolph, 40-year-old Vince Carter is getting 12 minutes of action per game for the Kings, averaging 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds, shooting 22.6 percent overall.
Projected Lineups:
| Matchup Preview | November 9, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (6-4, 4-2 Away) |
Sacramento Kings (2-8, 1-3 Home) |
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Game Information
Tip-off: 10pm ET
Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia + (formerly TCN)
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
