The Kings whiffed on a golden opportunity to steal a road win against an undermanned Philadelphia 76ers team missing reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
Philadelphia's 112-93 win over Sacramento on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center marked the 11th Kings' double-digits defeat during the 2023-24 NBA season. The recent barrage of Sacramento's lopsided losses is a concerning trend after they only suffered 12 double-digit losses during the entire 2022-23 season.
Kings big man Domantas Sabonis failed to capitalize on Embiid's absence from the 76ers' lineup, regularly getting outworked on the boards and in the paint by role players like Paul Reed and Mo Bamba. Sabonis finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but the eye test was nowhere near as kind as his double-double stat line would indicate.
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As Sabonis attempts to make a push for his second consecutive All-Star nod, this is exactly the kind of game that the All-NBA big man should have dominated. Instead, he came out flat, failing to record a point until halfway through the second quarter, finishing the first half with just two field-goal attempts.
Sacramento went into the break down 19 points, a deficit that never got back under single-digits despite showing signs of life late in the third quarter by cutting the 76ers' lead to 12 but never finding the needed extra gear to get back within striking distance down the stretch.
Despite 11 of the Kings' 15 losses this season coming by double-digits, coach Mike Brown revealed after the game that Friday's loss to the 76ers didn't suggest a particular trend he is concerned about regarding Sacramento's uncharacteristically high number of blowout defeats this season.
"Tonight I thought our guys, in the third quarter we brought it [76ers' lead] to 14, we just couldn't come up with the 50-50 ball or rebound and they get a putback or a score here," Brown told reporters. "Our guys did a better job in the second half compared to the first half on the defensive end of the floor.
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"When you turn the ball over 17 times, you're not only giving them a chance to score easy baskets the other way, especially with their speed and athleticism, but it's also taking away shot opportunities for us. That's kind of how I look at it; I don't compare it to how we played against these guys last year, or even you don't want to lose at all, let alone by double figures. But I don't look at it like that way because I thought our second half, or as the game went along we were a little better."
The Kings couldn't find an answer for 76ers forward Tobias Harris, who posted a season-high 37 points on 14-of-25 shooting in Philadelphia's resounding win. De'Aaron Fox led the way for Sacramento with 21 points, but the Kings' offense struggled to find any consistency, with just four players scoring double-digits in Friday's loss.
Last time the Kings lost by double-digits, they immediately rebounded with a win in their next game, and will look to do so again on Sunday when they square off with the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.