Tyrese Maxey recorded 32 points and six assists and the Philadelphia 76ers withstood the absences of Joel Embiid and James Harden to notch a 129-127 victory over the host Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Tobias Harris had 17 points and six assists before fouling out for Philadelphia, which completed a 5-0 road trip and won for the seventh time in the past eight games. Montrezl Harrell had 17 points and seven rebounds and Georges Niang also scored 17 points for the 76ers.
Embiid and Harden both sat out with foot injuries but it didn’t prevent Philadelphia from beating Sacramento for the ninth consecutive time.
De’Aaron Fox had 31 points and nine assists for the Kings, who had a six-game winning streak halted. Harrison Barnes made six 3-pointers and scored 27 points and Kevin Huerter added 20.
Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis registered 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, just missing out on his second straight triple-double. Keegan Murray added 13 points.
Maxey drove for a layup with 44.9 seconds left to give the 76ers a 125-121 lead. Fox answered with a short jumper with 22.8 seconds remaining to bring the Kings within two.
Maxey made two free throws with 17.8 seconds left before Murray hit a corner 3-pointer to pull Sacramento within 127-126 with 8.4 seconds to play.
Melton made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to give Philadelphia a three-point lead.
Barnes was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left and missed the first. He made the second and then missed the third on purpose and the attempted tip by Sabonis was off the mark.
Shake Milton added 15 points and De’Anthony Melton had 14 points and seven rebounds for the 76ers, who hit 52.7 percent of their attempts and were 12 of 28 from behind the arc.
Sacramento shot 54.8 percent from the field and made 13 of 33 from 3-point range.
The 76ers trailed by as much as 21 in the first half but Harrell’s three-point play allowed Philadelphia to tie the score at 86 with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter.
Maxey’s basket with 2:59 left gave Philadelphia its first lead of the game at 95-94.
The 76ers led 102-96 entering the final stanza and scored the first five points to take an 11-point advantage before the Kings rallied.
Barnes made five first-half 3-pointers and scored 17 points to help the Kings hold a 74-64 halftime lead.
Huerter connected from 3-point range to make it 71-50 with 3:10 left before Philadelphia ended the half with a 14-3 burst.
–Field Level Media
