The Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid can do it all on his back passes the ball between Sacramento Kings defenders Damian Jones (30) and Buddy Hield (24) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as the Kings go down to their sixth straight loss on Sat Jan 29, 2022 (AP News photo)
by Marko Ukalovic
PHILADELPHIA — It was another second half collapse by Cap City.
Joel Embiid scored 23 of his 36 points in the second half as he sparked the Philadelphia 76ers to a 103-101 comeback win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday evening at the Wells Fargo Center.
Sacramento has lost six games in a row and anchor the basement of the Pacific Division. Philadelpha has caught fire as they have won four games in a row and five of their last six. They have overtaken the Brooklyn Nets for first place in the Atlantic Division with a one-game lead.
Harrison Barnes started out hot with 10 points in the first quarter. Tobias Harris paced the 76ers with nine points as the Kings led 31-27 after the opening quarter.
The Kings took advantage of eight turnovers by the 76ers in the first quarter.
Sacramento (18-33) took control of the second quarter with a 15-3 run. They led 61-46 with 1:38 left in the quarter before the home team closed out the quarter with the final four points as the Kings cruised into halftime up by 11 points.
The Kings had their biggest lead at 70-55 in the third quarter as the outscored the 76ers 15-4 in the first five minutes.
Philadelphia (30-19) slowly chipped away as they outscored Sacramento 26-13 to end the third quarter as they cut the Kings lead to 83-81 to start the fourth quarter.
The 76ers went on a 9-0 run in less than two minutes to grab their first lead of the game when Andre Drummond’s layup gave Philly an 88-87 lead with 8:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Embiid scored seven points in a two-minute stretch to give the 76ers their biggest lead at 103-93 with 2:28 remaining.
Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton scored eight of his game high 38 points in the final two minutes to bring the Kings within two points. A five-second violation by Philadelphia with 11.1 second left gave the Kings a final chance to win or send the game into overtime.
However, the 76ers defense stood its ground defensively as they forced Barnes into a desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer that missed way off the mark to seal the Kings fate.
Philadelphia outscored Sacramento 53-40 in the second half.
Barnes finished with 16 points and Donovan Mitchell chipped in 15 points for Sacramento. The Kings bench didn’t help their cause with only 16 points total for the game.
Harris finished with 16 points and Tyrese Maxey chipped in 15.
GAME NOTES: Sacramento finished 12-for-35 from beyond the arc. Philadelphia was 12-for-30.
UP NEXT: Sacramento finishes their five-game road trip on Monday 1/31 against the New York Knicks at 4:30pm at Madison Square Garden.
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