The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off an impressive rally on Saturday when they were down 21 points to a good Sacramento Kings team that was home. Despite playing without both Joel Embiid and James Harden, the Sixers rallied in SacTown.
The game featured a battle between two very good young guards. Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey was terrific. He had 32 points, including 21 in the second half, and six assists. Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox had 31 points on 11-for-19 shooting and nine assists.
Fox is a worthy adversary and after the win, Maxey gave his respect to the leading man for the Kings.
“When you play against De’Aaron Fox, he’s going to come at you extremely fast,” Maxey told reporters. “The pace is going to be pushed. He was good and it’s hard to stop when he’s moving, especially when we weren’t scoring and they were running downhill on us.”
Combine Fox’s speed and athleticism with the steady play of Domantas Sabonis and Sacramento has a duo that can be tough to stop on their offensive end of the floor.
“Sabonis is a force down there as well,” Maxey continued. “We knew coming in that they were going to play extremely fast. I think their pace at the beginning of the game was because we were turning the ball over and we were taking some quick shots. Because of those two things, they were able to run and get out in transition on us. I think that was a difference-maker in the second half when it shifted.”
Maxey and the Sixers vanquished Fox and the Kings. Now, Philadelphia looks to come home and keep the momentum going on Wednesday when it plays host to the Brooklyn Nets.
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