Bolstered by ‘Big Three,’ Sixers welcome road-challenged Kings
When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Paul George prior to last season, they envisioned a dynamic "big three" with George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
That vision, delayed many times by the players' injuries, came to fruition in the Sixers' most recent game -- and they hope to see an encore performance Thursday when the slumping Sacramento Kings come to town.
In Tuesday's 139-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, George tied the franchise record with nine 3-pointers en route to 32 points. The veteran forward had made seven total 3-pointers in his previous six games.
"I thought we played great offensively as a unit," said George. "The ball just found me in those moments and I knocked shots down."
Embiid contributed 29 points and nine rebounds against Milwaukee, while Maxey notched 22 points and nine assists. Philadelphia finished 22 of 42 (52.4%) from 3-point range with George (9 of 15) and reserve Jared McCain (5 of 6) doing a bulk of the damage.
"Obviously, we had a lot of 3-balls going in there tonight," said Sixers coach Nick Nurse, whose team had lost by 37 points in Charlotte one day earlier. "The ball was moving good. Obviously, Paul and Jared, with their hot streak there, widened the gap for us for sure, which was good to see out of both of them."
While Embiid, Maxey and George are well established as offensive forces, Saturday's game was perhaps most important for McCain. The second-year guard has struggled this season but produced arguably his best performance of 2025-26 against Milwaukee with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
"He definitely needed this one," Nurse said of McCain, whose has endured knee and thumb injuries after an impressive start to his rookie season of 2024-25.
McCain could see more minutes Thursday, particularly if key reserve Quentin Grimes misses a second straight game with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Sacramento has lost six straight games and has struggled all season away from home. The team is just 3-20 on the road, including three straight losses to begin their six-game road trip. Most recently, the Kings fell to the New York Knicks 103-87 on Tuesday despite 34 points from DeMar DeRozan.
"Deebo did everything that he could," Sacramento coach Doug Christie said, referring to DeRozan by his nickname. "So, you know you can't play him the whole 48 minutes. But when we were able to play through him, we got a lot of really good looks."
Russell Westbrook added 14 points for Sacramento, while Domantas Sabonis contributed 11 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
The Kings certainly will be hoping for a crisper shooting performance against the Sixers. The team made just 5 of 30 shots from beyond the arc against the Knicks, with DeRozan and Westbrook combining to shoot 3 of 16.
"I mean, 16% isn't going to cut it, obviously, from the 3-point line," Christie said. "And, you know, this is a make-or-miss league."
The Kings' coach still was optimistic about his team's effort, particularly from the first three quarters against New York. Sacramento was tied heading into the fourth before everything fell apart.
"If we play to that level consistently, we'll win our fair share of games," Christie said.
This is the first matchup between the Kings and Sixers this season. The teams split their two meetings a season ago.