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King Maxey: Six...

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Third Quarter

Just like the start of the game, the Kings had no problem driving straight to the basket to begin the second half — they opened the third 6-of-8 from the floor. Also just like the start of the game, Nurse called an early timeout in attempt to squash the momentum.

Drivers were able to find Yabusele for a couple of floaters out of that timeout, but the Kings continued to kill them at the rim on the other end. To the point of three-point shooting being a help, the Sixers only made one in the third. De’Aaron Fox had a quiet first half but had eight in the third. Playing off the ball, he did a bit of damage with his cutting. He even slipped behind a sleeping defense to catch a lob from half-court.

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After finally stringing together a couple of stops, the Sixers were able to inch back starting with a couple of layups from Reggie Jackson. Council got a couple of transition opportunities — one of which he finished with a reverse dunk, the other he drew a flagrant on as Derozan decided to prevent a second reverse. The Sixers re-took the lead on a Jackson three, ending the quarter up by two.

Fourth Quarter

Council looked no worse for wear after the fall as he had an impressive drive that ended with a spin move around Monk early in the quarter. A few possessions later he initiated contact with Keegan Murray to get himself to the line as the Sixers opened the quarter on a 9-2 run.

The Sixers have gotten good energy from Council their last two games, but they won the Maxey-less minutes tonight because of the veterans. Lowry and Jackson combined for 22 and shot 50% and 60% from the field, respectively . The Kings didn’t go away though, they got in the bonus about halfway through the quarter which they used to their advantage. They also continued to have an easier time getting to the rim against the Sixers’ smaller lineup.

Sacramento finally started to struggle against that group. They were held scoreless for two minutes and the Sixers used the time to extend their lead to double digits. Maxey hit a couple layups to put the game on ice, the second being a spectacular reverse.

The homestand rolls on with another nationally televised contest as the Sixers host the Nuggets Friday night — that is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET. If Joel Embiid cannot suit up for that it will surely garner a similar reaction to the when he missed last week’s matchup in Denver.

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Is this much winning even allowed?

The Sixers took down the Sacramento Kings 117-104 Wednesday night. It is their fourth win in a row, matching their longest winning streak of the season. They are 19-27.

Tyrese Maxey again led all scorers, finishing with 30 points along with eight assists, his third straight game with at least 30. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 15 points while Eric Gordon shot it well again to finish with 14. Malik Monk led the Kings with 21.

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Joel Embiid remained out and Paul George missed his second straight game due to a finger injury.

Here are some thoughts from the Center.

First Quarter

The Sixers found themselves on the back foot early as the Kings made five of their first six shots of the game. Four of those makes coming right at the rim caused an early timeout from Nick Nurse.

Expectedly, the Kings defense loaded up on Maxey early. He started the game 1-of-3 from the field but did have three assists. They didn’t have much else going on offensively, but they were able to turn the Kings over five times in the first thanks to four steals.

Maxey closed his shift well as he hit an and-1 in transition then followed it up with a midrange pull-up. The elder statesmen of the backcourt relieved him well as Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry knocked down a couple of shots. The youngsters got on the board when Adem Bona found an open Justin Edwards cutting baseline. That still cut the Kings’ lead two as the smaller Sixers searched for answers for Domantas Sabonis.

Second Quarter

Gordon continues to make just about everything at the moment as he found himself open again for a floater type of shot. He followed it up with another logo three a few possessions later. The Sixers also got an Edwards three and a pair of Ricky Council IV free throws in this stretch.

Sacramento was able to catch up as the Sixers’ offense began to slow down. DeMar Derozan found his footing as he got a couple of jumpers to fall. He had seven points in the second. Monk was even harder to contain as he had 16 in the first half. On the other end Bona went for his most ambitious dunk attempt yet, but got called for a charge as Trey Lyles was able to slide in his way. Bona had a heavy workload after Guerschon Yabusele picked up his third foul with 5:44 left in the half. He also had to sit for the last 30 seconds of the half after nearly picking up his fourth foul.

As simple as it sounds, three-pointers going in has helped this team so much this week. Gordon knocked down another three, which caused two defenders to close out on him on the next possession. That opened up an easy pass to an open Bona for a dunk. The Sixers took a four-point lead as they shot over 50% from the field and from three in the half.