Fox, Kings rally in the 4th to stun 76ers

Jan 1, 2025, 9:54 PM | Updated: Jan 2, 2025, 7:25 am

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

The Sacramento Kings were on their way to their latest letdown on their home floor, trailing by nine points with less than four minutes to go against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

Rather than roll over and fall back to six games under the .500 mark, the Kings displayed fight that fans in attendance have been waiting weeks to witness.

Sacramento finished the night on a 15-0 run behind strong closing performances from De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk to complete a 113-107 win, snap the 76ers’ four-game winning streak, and create a victory streak of their own–two games–to build on their momentum from Monday’s win over Dallas.

The Kings (15-19) locked in on both ends for the final 3:34 of play, containing star forward Paul George down the final stretch and lighting the beam for the second time this week.

a clutch king with a CLUTCH bucket 🔥 https://t.co/HgGEYkCPHV pic.twitter.com/uSh0C3Rhum

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 2, 2025

Kings vs. 76ers recap & takeaways

Sacramento was playing with juice out of the gates on Wednesday night, taking an early eight-point lead behind an aggressive start from Domantas Sabonis.

Once the Kings subbed out its starters, longtime NBA scoring threat Paul George attacked Sacramento’s second unit by pouring in 14 points during the first quarter, leading Philadelphia on a 22-10 run to end the period.

George, who entered play averaging 15.5 points per game this season and having failed to score more than 19 points over his past six contests, applied pressure to the Kings early by scoring 20 first-half points.

Sacramento’s poor three-point defense returned to bite them again as they allowed the 76ers to convert eight triples before the break, causing them to continue a recent trend of falling behind by double digits during the first half.

On the heels of a strong showing on Monday night against Dallas (14 points on three-of-six shooting from deep), Trey Lyles provided the Kings with a boost to help cut into the Philadelphia lead before the break. Lyles scored nine points during the second quarter, sinking three of the Kings’ five first-half triples to bring Sacramento within single digits.

Lyles, De’Aaron Fox (16 first-half points), and Domantas Sabonis (13 points and 14 rebounds before the break) led a 20-6 run that erased the 76ers’ 14-point lead and helping the Kings open the second half with a clean slate.

DE’AARON FOX AT THE 1H BUZZER 🎯

Kings close the 2Q on a 20-6 run to TIE the game! pic.twitter.com/DQKe3jFZCc

— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2025

George continued to punish the Sacramento defense as play entered the second half, scoring ten points over the first nine minutes of the third quarter to once again force the Kings to play from behind as they looked to avoid falling into another double-digit hole.

Philadelphia regained control of the game by going six of nine (66%) from three-point range, outscoring Sacramento 32-23 in the third, as frustration began to boil over for the Kings. Lyles was hit with a technical foul at the end of the period, allowing the 76ers to pad their lead and take a ten-point lead with twelve minutes to go.

Fox, Mr. Fourth Quarter himself, appeared in this one by scoring ten points over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to keep Sacramento within striking distance.

The Kings finally halted George’s scoring in crunch time, as the future Hall of Famer would go scoreless from the 3:59 mark of the third quarter until fouling out late in the fourth, allowing Sacramento a golden opportunity to strike.

Fox and Monk took over down the final stretch, combining to score 24 of the Kings’ 33 points in the fourth as Philadelphia went ice cold in the final minutes. After falling behind 107-98 with 3:34 to go, Sacramento stunned the 76ers by finishing the night on a 15-0 run to send Golden 1 Center into a frenzy.

Turnovers nearly cost the Kings the game on Wednesday night (25 points allowed on 17 turnovers), but clutch scoring in crunch time combined with timely defense (nine turnovers forced in the fourth) left the door open and delivered fans with a comeback effort that Sacramento desperately needed.

🦊😤 pic.twitter.com/HuUpCcVS5k

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 2, 2025

Fox was incredible on Wednesday night, finishing with a game-high 35 points on 13-of-16 shooting from the field and two-of-four from long distance over 37 minutes in the star guard’s second-straight game with 33-plus points.

The Kentucky product got help late from Monk, his college backcourt running mate, as the former Sixth Man of the Year candidate-turned-starter attacked the Philadelphia paint, drawing four foul calls and going a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul stripe in the fourth.

Sacramento’s offense was dialed in late (59% from the field in the fourth quarter), but the defensive end was the most impressive aspect of their late-game execution.

Facing a nine-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining, interim head coach Doug Christie called a timeout to propose a challenge for the Kings: Create three straight stops. Not only did they do that, but they also ended up holding the 76ers scoreless for the remainder of the game.

“That is the type of fight we expect on a night-to-night basis,” Christie said of his team’s closing effort. “I challenged them to get three stops in a row. They locked in. Super proud of that.”

After allowing Philadelphia to shoot 14-of-33 (42%) from beyond the arc during the first three periods, Sacramento contained the 76ers in the fourth (one-for-seven, 14%) while forcing the opposing offense into nine turnovers in the final frame.

The Kings were getting hammered in points off turnovers all night long, but they turned the tables when it mattered most, scoring 13 points off those nine Philadelphia mishaps in the fourth.

Looked like Keon Ellis who stripped Paul George, giving the Kings the ball back with a three pt lead.

Monk was sent to the line to try, where he knocked down both. PG gets his 6th personal.

Kings up 111-107 with 7.4 sec left. pic.twitter.com/cCRAQtXypE

— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) January 2, 2025

DeMar DeRozan’s defense has looked sluggish at times, but the six-time All-Star turned back the clock in the clutch by securing two big steals–the final one taking place with six seconds remaining to seal the win–en route to securing Sacramento’s defensive player of the game honor.

It hasn’t been perfect, but the Kings are displaying signs of life as of late. The wins haven’t been beautiful, but at a time like this, it doesn’t matter. In light of a six-game losing streak and the firing of Mike Brown, this team needs a boost, and like most situations in sports, winning solves everything.

Taking care of business at home is a critical aspect of Christie’s coaching influence, and Sacramento has responded by improving to 2-0 on their home floor since the former Kings guard took the reigns as head coach.

“This is our house. We want to defend our house,” Christie said. “We are going to have our ups and downs, I understand that. But we want the opposing team to say, ‘Man, they played hard’ every night.”

The @SacramentoKings in the final 3:30 tonight:

15+ points scored
0 points allowed
0 missed shots (FG or FT)
5+ turnovers forced

No other NBA team in the last 20 years has done all of that over the final 3:30 of a game.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 2, 2025

Notes

Domantas Sabonis posted his NBA-leading 29th double-double of the season during the win: 17 PTS | 21 REB | 7 AST
Keon Ellis played a season-high 37 minutes in a starting role: 9 PTS | 3/8 3PT | 4 STL | 37 MIN

Injury Updates

Keegan Murray (left ankle soreness) has dealt with a lingering ankle issue for most of this season, and the third-year forward was held out of action on Wednesday night. Murray is considered day-to-day.

Rookie guard Devin Carter (return to competition reconditioning) was impressive in his G-League tune-up appearance over the weekend, scoring 29 points on six-of-nine shooting from three-point range, grabbing eight boards and swiping three steals on Saturday night.

Carter, the 13th overall pick in June’s NBA Draft, is close to making his debut with Sacramento and could be an option in the coming days.

When is the next Sacramento Kings game?

Sacramento will conclude a three-game homestand on Friday night against the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies at Golden 1 Center.

On December 5th, the Kings fell short in Memphis by a final of 115-110 as the Grizzlies outscored Sacramento 60-15 in bench scoring.

Be sure to catch all of the Kings vs. Grizzlies drama right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 2:00 PM PT on The Drive Guys before action tips off at 7:00 PM PT from downtown Sacramento.