On the verge of a five-game winning streak, the Sixers collapsed Wednesday night in Sacramento.
They conceded a 15-0 game-ending run to the Kings, who took a 113-107 victory.
De’Aaron Fox (35 points) and Domantas Sabonis (17 points, 21 rebounds, seven assists) starred for the Kings, who moved to 15-19.
Paul George recorded 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Tyrese Maxey had 27 points, six assists and five steals. As detailed below, both Maxey and George contributed plenty to put the Sixers on the precipice of a win, but they were in the middle of the disaster down the stretch.
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On the first night of a back-to-back that will wrap up Thursday against the Warriors, four Sixers were sidelined. Following his eight-steal outing in the Sixers’ win Monday over the Trail Blazers, Kelly Oubre Jr. sat with a left hand sprain. Joel Embiid (left foot sprain), KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) and Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery) were also out.
Sacramento was without third-year forward Keegan Murray (left ankle soreness) and rookie guard Devin Carter (return to competition reconditioning).
Here are observations on the 13-18 Sixers' first defeat of 2025:
MLB
George finds his game in first half
Kyle Lowry started for the first time since Nov. 18 and Guerschon Yabusele began the night at center. With Oubre out, Yabusele became the lone remaining Sixer to have played every game this season.
The Kings made a bright start, taking a 15-7 lead when Malik Monk finished a tough fast-break layup against Lowry. After a timeout, George got the ball on an Iverson cut and the Sixers set up a simple isolation. George drove and threw a pass out to the wing that Keon Ellis picked off.
His night then pivoted in a far more positive direction. George drilled two early three-pointers and scored 11 of the Sixers’ first 18 points, including an improbable jumper that he banked in while being fouled by Kevin Huerter.
The nine-time All-Star hit foul trouble yet again — that's three straight games now — but at least avoided anything truly damaging in the first half. George was called for his second foul at the 2:31 mark of the first quarter, but Sixers head coach Nick Nurse subbed him back in for the final possession of the first and George received a much more pleasant whistle, drawing a three-shot foul on Ellis.
George was still great in the early stages of the second quarter. He converted a driving layup, drained a fadeaway jumper and fired a crisp cross-court assist of an Eric Gordon three. The 34-year-old reached 20 points with another second-quarter layup, which is more than he’d scored in any full game during his slump across the prior six contests.
George stayed down after making that lay-in and crashing hard to the floor on his back. He ultimately went to the bench following a timeout and re-entered for the final few minutes of the second quarter.
The Sixers’ early-season luck was absurdly bad on everything from injuries vs. injury scares to jumpers rimming out vs. dropping in. Though all silver linings will understandably be waved off after how the night ended, George’s track record does suggest he’s due for more showings like Wednesday's first half.
Drummond and Gordon back in the fold
The Sixers welcomed veterans Gordon and Andre Drummond back to their rotation. Drummond had missed the past three games with a left toe sprain, Gordon the past four after undergoing oral surgery.
While those players filled expected roles, no one projected rookie wing Justin Edwards would play first-quarter minutes.
Edwards has mainly been with the G League's Delaware Blue Coats as one of the Sixers' three two-way contract players. He logged his first NBA rotation time (five minutes) and missed his one shot attempt, a catch-and-shoot three. DeMar DeRozan made a tough mid-range jumper on him, as he's done against just about everyone over the years.
Gordon and Drummond each had productive returns, posting 19 of the Sixers’ 25 bench points in the first half. Gordon sunk a three off of a Drummond kick-out pass to extend the Sixers’ lead to 51-37.
Sacramento pushed back with a big run, stringing stops together with its zone defense. Fox's buzzer-beating three tied the game up at halftime.
Tons of late mistakes from Sixers’ stars
Maxey scored a dozen points in the third quarter and the Sixers' shooters were hot across the board. He stole the ball from Monk on a successful blitz with Yabusele, then drew a foul in transition and knocked down his free throws, giving the Sixers a 75-66 lead.
Fox, a fellow Kentucky product, was stellar in the second half, scoring relentlessly and ending the evening 13 for 16 from the floor. He prevented the Sixers from breaking the game open, and that proved to be a larger problem than increasing the stress level of a victory.
Maxey, George and the Sixers collectively did a catastrophic job of countering the Kings’ defensive aggression in the final minutes.
With Sacramento sending all-out blitzes at Maxey, the Sixers turned to George in the post. He tried to step through two defenders and find an opening, but he let the shot clock expire in the process.
Maxey had a similar idea far further from the basket when he attempted to split the Kings’ blitz near half court. The result was a turnover, which led to a fast-break DeRozan layup. Maxey forced up and missed a difficult runner on the Sixers’ next trip.
Finally, with the Sixers trailing by two points, George turned the ball over, getting stripped on a drive and not hearing the whistle he wanted. He eventually committed his sixth foul and Sacramento iced the game at the foul line.
Even when everything seems to be clicking, lapsing on the fundamentals can quite clearly be costly. As Nurse said after the Sixers’ Christmas victory over the Celtics, his team was consistently elite at taking care of the ball last season. In Sacramento, the Sixers’ stars were poor in that department and allowed the Kings to steal a stunning comeback win.
