The Philadelphia 76ers have been a little up-and-down to begin the 2019-20 season, but one constant for them has been their play at home. The Sixers are a perfect 7-0 at home, compared to 4-6 on the road, and they give up 97.9 points per game at home compared to 109.7 on the road. They could use the confines of home after a tough loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
Wednesday’s opponent is the Sacramento Kings who got off to a rough start, but have picked it up as of late and will come in as a talented bunch led by Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic. They don’t play at a very fast pace as they’re 28th in the league in pace at 97.7 so they will look to slow the game down a bit.
With that being said, it’s time for the preview with the guide to Thanksgiving Eve game:
How to watch Sixers vs. Kings:
- Date: Wednesday, November 27
- Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Injury Report
- Sixers: OUT: Kyle O’Quinn(left calf strain), Shake Milton(upper respiratory infection)
- Kings: OUT: Trevor Ariza(not with team), De’Aaron Fox(left ankle sprain), Marvin Bagley III(right thumb fracture) PROBABLE: Bogdan Bogdanovic(left hamstring tightness)
Storylines
Learning from Toronto
The Sixers were definitely in the driver’s seat despite the worst game of superstar Joel Embiid’s career as he was held scoreless. The Sixers had the lead late on the road against the defending champs, but then fell apart late. They missed their final eight shots and committed three bad turnovers to allow the Raptors to come back and steal the game. Coach Brett Brown saw what went wrong and he has his takeaways.
Brown stated:
If we are big boys, you’d say of course there has to be. You are going to walk out of here and find something that is going to make us better, and we will do it. At this moment, it stings. You’ll wake up in the morning; you’ll be wiser for it and learn things that we have to just respond to better. We had a stage where we missed four free throws, they came back and hit a three and it’s kind of like a seven point swing. You would like to have a few of those turnovers back, at the end of the game. That’s where I’m at.
Sixers lament a missed opportunity
Based on what happened during the game on Monday, the Sixers should have walked away as winners. Despite the huge struggles of Embiid, they were right there in the lead late, but then coughed it up with too many mistakes. The biggest turnover that stands out is Ben Simmons trying to throw a lob to Tobias Harris on a fast break that was picked off by Toronto’s Pascal Siakam. Both players acknowledged what happened and know they need to be better.
Simmons stated:
I think it was just overall the whole game – a lot of mental errors that we didn’t correct. Joel had a tough night, so that also doesn’t help. When we look back at this game, we know that we should’ve won this one, but Toronto made plays.
Harris was also frustrated after the loss as he added:
Yeah, definitely too many of them. The last three minutes, too many to count, so that’s the most disappointing thing about tonight’s loss, for sure…I mean, we have to be better. (In) the late fourth quarter we have to be better engaged offensively and defensively — executing on both ends of the floor.
Prediction
The Sixers are a much different team at home. They’re better in all facets of the game and the home crowd definitely gives this team a boost. Embiid is going to be super motivated to want to come out strong and put the nightmarish Raptors game behind him and come out and dominate at the level he’s been accustomed to playing at. Former Sixer Richaun Holmes will be tasked to slow down the All-Star and it’s hard to see it actually happening.
Pick: Sixers pull away late
Sixers vs. Kings season series
Game 1 November 27:
Game 2 March 5:
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