SACRAMENTO – For a team that has seen so many fourth-quarter leads slip through their hands because of defensive breakdowns during the 2024 NBA season, the Kings did a fantastic job of turning the tables on New Year’s Day.
This time it was the Kings doing the rallying while the Philadelphia 76ers wilted down the stretch.
Sacramento was strong the entire fourth quarter but really muscled up over the final 3 ½ minutes when the Kings closed out on a 15-0 run and limited the 76ers to just four shots.
“That is the type of fight we expect on a night-to-night basis,” Kings interim coach Doug Christie said. “Across the board so many guys came up huge. Super proud of them.”
As was the Golden 1 Center crowd. Fans had been hyped for most of the night but rose to their feet in a collective ovation in the final seconds that even had the players feeling it.
“Being able to get these last two, especially being on your home court, is definitely a booster,” point guard De’Aaron Fox said after scoring 35 points on 13-of-16 shooting. “Winning at home always puts you in a good spot.”
The Kings, despite optimistic hopes heading into the season, hadn’t been in a good spot for a long time for a number of reasons – failures to properly execute fundamentals or gameplans, inability to hold onto leads, communication issues between the players and coaching staff.
Although nothing specifically has been pointed to by management, that sort of dysfunction had to be among the many reasons why Brown was let go.
That wasn’t on anyone’s minds on New Year’s Day, however.
For Kings fans, it didn’t really seem to matter who is coaching. The state’s capital has been longing for any type of positive news for quite some time.
Christie and his players delivered that.
Keon Ellis started in place of injured Keegan Ellis came through with four steals and two blocks while defending Paul George. DeMar DeRozan and Trey Lyles had two steals apiece.
As a team, the Kings turned 19 Philadelphia turnovers into 22 points.
“That’s huge,” Fox said. “The big thing was the fact that we were able to get stops, able to get out in transition and try to get some easy looks. That’s kind of where the game turned for us.”
Christie was most pleased with how the Kings stuck together rather than splintering when things got rough.
“Make, miss, turnover … these are the times that we have to overcome,” Christie said. “We have to find a way to make it happen. We have to manufacture what we need, and that crowd, playing for that crowd, that is the spirit I like to see out of them on a night-to-night basis.”