On January 2nd, Beijing time, the NBA 2024-2025 season regular season is continuing in a lively manner. The Sacramento Kings are waiting at home to welcome the challenge of the Philadelphia 76ers. This is the first time the two teams have met this season. They each won one game last season, and their strength is not much different. Wow, speaking of the 76ers, they have been very powerful recently, winning four consecutive victories. Their total record has become 13 wins and 17 losses, and their ranking in the Eastern Conference has risen all the way to eleventh place. If they win another game, they can rush into the Eastern Conference playoff area, which can be considered back on track. Moreover, in the latest issue of the NBA's official power rankings, the 76ers ranked 18th, which is the first time they have entered the top 20 since the first issue. This is really a double happiness, which makes me so excited.
Look at the Kings, it's miserable. They have been falling all the way. Their current record is only 14 wins and 19 losses, ranking fourth from the bottom in the West, which is really unexpected. Looking at the latest issue of the power rankings, the Kings have fallen to 23rd in the league, almost the same level as those teams that are tanking for the draft lottery. It's too outrageous. You know, during the last offseason, the Kings happily introduced the third giant DeRozan, hoping to make great achievements, but they were definitely not aiming for the No. 1 pick. But now, they haven't even touched the edge of the playoffs. Moreover, the super awesome best coach in the league, Mike Brown, was fired by the management, becoming a scapegoat for poor performance. Oh, it's really bad luck.
Before the game started, the American media ESPN was quite "diligent" in giving the latest win rate prediction for the day's game. Look, the 76ers seem to be slightly favored, with a win rate of 54.1%; while the Kings are relatively less favored, with a win rate of only 45.9%. Let's talk about the starting lineup for this game. On the 76ers side, there is a bit of a situation. Embiid, McKean, and KJ-Martin can't play. It is still uncertain whether Gordon, Lowry, and Drummond can play. The final starting five are George, Maxi, Yabusele, Lowry, and Martin. On the Kings' side, Devin-Carter is also absent from the game, Murray is unlikely to play, and it is still questionable whether Crowder can play. Their starting lineup is Fox, Monk, Ellis, DeRozan, and Sabonis.
As soon as the whistle blew for the start of the first quarter, Sabonis was like a fierce little beast, launching strong attacks towards the basket one after another, scoring successfully, allowing the Kings to take a 9-5 lead over the 76ers. At this moment, Maxi cleverly sent an assist, and George, taking advantage of the screen, received the ball and "whoosh" shot a steady pull-up three-pointer, which stopped the bleeding for the 76ers in time. Then, facing Hert's defense, he was unafraid, jumped up directly, and even though his body was off balance, he still miraculously made a 2+1. At this point, the 76ers tied the score. Over there, DeRozan was not to be outdone, breaking through and shooting free throws, scoring 6 points alone, and the Kings took the lead by 3 points again. Fortunately, George was powerful enough in the buzzer moment, causing Ellis' three-point foul, and then made three free throws, thus ending the first quarter with a 5-point lead for the 76ers.
In the first quarter, I, Paul George, shone brightly! In just 9 minutes, I tried my best, shooting 7 times and making 4 shots steadily, scoring 14 points, and grabbing 2 rebounds. Isn't that amazing!
In the second quarter, I, George, opened fire, easily scoring a layup and then a turnaround jumper, scoring 18 points, and today's state is excellent. But who would have thought that an accident happened suddenly. I lost my balance in the air and "bang" fell heavily on the ground. It hurt so much that I couldn't get up for a long time. There was no way, the head coach had to replace me. Looking over there, Gordon shot a three-pointer after receiving the ball, which was also steadily hit, and the score reached double digits, and the 76ers led by 14 points. However, the Kings were not to be outdone. Sabonis faked out Yabusele and then scored a layup, leading the Kings to a 12-3 run, reducing the gap to only 5 points. At this time, the 76ers have not been able to score for 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Fortunately, I, George, returned to the court again, broke through and quickly passed the ball to assist Martin in hitting a three-pointer, finally breaking the scoring drought. Finally, Fox was also powerful, faking out the defender and hitting a buzzer three-pointer steadily. Well, the half-time ended in a tie, with both sides 57-57, returning to the same starting line.
Let's take a look at the halftime data! On the 76ers side, Paul George was quite powerful, playing for only 16 minutes, shooting 11 times and making 7 shots, easily scoring 20 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, and sending out 3 assists. Maxi also worked hard, shooting 9 times and making 3 shots, unfortunately missing all 4 three-point attempts, but still scoring 6 points, with 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 1 block. Looking at the Kings side, Sabonis was also in good form, shooting 10 times and making 6 shots, scoring 13 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, contributing 4 assists and 1 steal. Fox also performed well, shooting 7 times and making 5 shots, with 3 three-point attempts and 2 hits, scoring 16 points with 3 rebounds and 1 assist.
The game enters the second half! Look, Maxi is not to be outdone, facing Xiao Sa's tight defense, "whoosh" hitting a buzzer runner. How can this be done, Fox is not to be outdone, relying on strong confrontation, a layup is also neatly scored, immediately returning the color. Looking at George again, he is so powerful, continuously breaking through and scoring layups, and then "whoosh" hitting a three-pointer, this has already cut down 30 points. Maxi is not to be outdone, hitting two "bang bang" three-pointers in a row, which is good, the 76ers have taken the lead by 9 points again, it's really exciting!
The stage of the decisive fourth quarter unfolds! DeRozan made a breakthrough layup and beautifully put the ball into the basket. Then, Fox didn't mess around and made a jump shot, reducing the gap to only 4 points. Maxi used George's screen and hit a super long three-pointer steadily, which put the 76ers ahead by 7 points again. But not long after, Monk made a breakthrough layup and also caused George to commit a foul. At this time, there were only 4 minutes left in the game, and George had already committed 5 fouls, which was not good. Who would have thought that the 76ers made some low-level mistakes one after another, and Ellis seized the opportunity to hit a follow-up three-pointer. DeRozan and Monk also made consecutive breakthroughs, and the Kings immediately launched an 11-0 run, surpassing the 76ers by 2 points instead. At the most critical moment, George missed the ball when making a layup, which was really worrying. Finally, the Kings successfully reversed the 76ers with a score of 113-107, ending their four-game winning streak. Now the 76ers must see the reality clearly. George always makes mistakes at critical moments and cannot be relied upon. Even if Maxi is so powerful, he cannot support the team alone. It seems that this season may not go far.
Let's take a look at the full game data! On our 76ers side, Maxi tried his best, shooting 22 times and making 9 shots, scoring 27 points, and also grabbing 2 rebounds, sending out 6 assists, and adding 4 steals. George also did his best, but unfortunately he fouled out 6 times, scoring 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, but with 5 turnovers. Little Martin is also not to be outdone, scoring 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Looking at the Kings side, DeRozan also performed actively on the court, scoring 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist, and successfully stealing the ball once. Fox is even more powerful, shooting 16 times and making 13 shots, easily scoring 35 points, with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block. Sabonis also performed well, scoring 17 points, grabbing 21 rebounds, and sending out 7 assists