Haliburton’s Career Night Not Enough As Kings Fall Short In Philadelphia
Jan 29, 2022, 7:31 PM | Updated: 8:38 pm
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Tyrese Haliburton established a new career-high on Saturday as the guard led all scorers with 38 points
Over the course of a brutal losing-streak, one thing has been largely absent for the Sacramento Kings:
Effort.
On Saturday night, the Kings showed some fight in a game that went down to the wire as Tyrese Haliburton went on an 8-0 run by himself during the final 1:20 of play to give Sacramento a chance to tie the game or win in Philadelphia.
Although Harrison Barnes’ game-winning attempt at the horn wouldn’t fall, the Kings battled a talented 76ers team during a 103-101 loss at Wells Fargo Center.
It was refreshing to see Sacramento play competitive basketball, but the losing streak continues as the Kings (18-33) have lost six-straight games and 11 of their last 13 contests.
The start to Saturday afternoon’s game was very reminiscent to Wednesday’s game in Atlanta as the Kings offense was in a groove early.
Harrison Barnes led all scorers with 10 points in the first quarter to compliment the aggressive Sacramento defense (forced seven 76ers turnovers in the first) as the Kings took a 31-27 lead into the second period.
Unlike Wednesday’s game in Atlanta, Sacramento’s strong play would continue in the second quarter as the Kings led by as many as 17 points en route to taking a 61-50 advantage into the halftime break.
Tyrese Haliburton was very active in the first half as the second-year guard led all scorers with 16 points to go along with six assists and two steals to help put the Kings in a strong position at the start of the third quarter.
After struggling to convert a field goal during the first three minutes of play in the second half, the Kings mounted an 8-0 run to take a 15-point lead with seven minutes to go in the third quarter.
The 76ers would erase the large deficit with a 26-13 run to end the period and trim Sacramento’s lead to 83-81 with 12 minutes to go.
Philadelphia took their first lead since the 10-minute mark of the first quarter after the Kings yielded a 12-0 run early in the fourth quarter. Trailing 99-90 with less than four minutes to go, Tyrese Haliburton established a new career-high of 30 points on a triple that kept the Kings within reach.
Unfortunately for the Kings, the costly 76ers run from the early minutes of the fourth quarter would be enough to cost them the game as the stalled offense allowed Joel Embiid and company to put enough space between themselves and Sacramento.
Haliburton went inferno down the closing stretch to give the Kings a chance late as the second-year guard went on an 8-0 run on his own over the final 80 seconds of play. After Sacramento forced a five-second call with 11 seconds to go, a game-winning attempt would come up empty as Harrison Barnes’ game-winning attempt was too strong.
Richaun Holmes was wide open underneath the basket as the final seconds ticked off of the clock, adding a little bit of salt into the wound of this narrow defeat.
As we all know, there are no moral victories when it comes to the Sacramento Kings. But when you look at the way this team has performed over the past week, a performance like tonight was a breath of fresh air.
Effort. That’s what fans want to see. On Saturday night in Philadelphia, the Kings left it all out on the floor.
Sometimes even that isn’t enough. Playing a strong team like the 76ers and matching up against All-Star center Joel Embiid (36 points), a rough-stretch like Sacramento’s during the early minutes of the fourth quarter was enough to cost them the game.
The effort was nice to see, but a loss is still a loss–and boy, are those losses starting to pile up.
Sacramento is currently on a season-long six-game losing streak they continue to slip further away from the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings. With less than two weeks to go until the NBA trade deadline (February 10th), you never know when it could be the last time you are watching some of these players in the purple and black.
Hali-lujah
What a night for Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton looked like a star in the making on Saturday as the second-year guard kept his team in the game during a career-performance.
The 21-year-old topped his previous career-high of 28 by ten points, finishing with a game-high 38 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, five-of-nine from three-point land and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line (career-high in attempts and makes).
Over 40 minutes of play, Haliburton led the Kings with seven assists and three steals while only turning the ball over two times.
Haliburton joins a short-list of talented Kings players to score 38+ points, dish 7+ assists and swipe 3+ steals, one that includes Hall of Fame guards Mitch Richmond and Tiny Archibald, current teammate De’Aaron Fox and former Kings DeMarcus Cousins and Mike Bibby.
Injury Report
- Terence Davis suffered an injury to his right wrist (ECU tendon) during Tuesday night’s loss in Boston and will be out indefinitely. Davis also received received five stitches to repair a laceration above his right eye after being injured during a drive to a basket on Tuesday.
- De’Aaron Fox (left ankle soreness) missed his fourth-straight game on Saturday evening. Prior to Saturday’s game, head coach Alvin Gentry told the media that he isn’t sure how long Fox will be sidelined, but reiterated that the guard is only experiencing soreness in his left ankle. Fox has not played in a game since January 19th.
- Chimezie Metu returned to action following a three-game absence due to knee soreness.
Coming Up
Sacramento will wrap up the five-game road-trip on Monday afternoon when they head to The Big Apple to face the New York Knicks.
The Kings and Knicks split their season-series in 2020-21, with New York claiming the most-recent matchup between the two teams back on February 25, 2021 as they handily defeated Sacramento by a final of 140-121 behind 21 points and 14 rebounds from Julius Randle.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Knicks coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK beginning at 3:00pm PST on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry ‘The High Flyer’ Turner prior to a 4:30pm PST tip-off from Madison Square Garden.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- January 31st @ New York Knicks
- February 2nd vs Brooklyn Nets
- February 3rd @ Golden State Warriors
- February 5th vs Oklahoma City
- February 8th vs Minnesota Timberwolves
- February 9th vs Minnesota Timberwolves
