Sixers’ offensive struggles return in loss to Kings, ending four-game west coast trip

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tyrese Maxey tossed a second-half lob pass intended for Tobias Harris, who could not finish the alley-oop opportunity.

That sequence epitomized the way the Sixers fell back into their offensive struggles in a 108-96 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at the Golden1 Center, a disappointing conclusion a 1-3 Western Conference road trip.

“We did execute most of the stuff we were trying to execute tonight,” said coach Nick Nurse, echoing his assessment from previous games. “We just didn’t get enough on offense again.”

The Sixers (39-33) could not build off the momentum gained from Sunday’s big win at the Los Angeles Clippers, and squandered an opportunity to move up in the Eastern Conference standings with 10 regular-season games to play. There is now a half-game gap between the eighth-place Sixers and seventh-place Miami Heat. The Sixers are also now 1½ games behind the sixth-place Indiana Pacers, who beat the Los Angeles Clippers Monday.

Beyond Maxey’s 29 points, the Sixers failed to keep pace with the Kings (42-29) on a night Kelly Oubre Jr. was sidelined with shoulder soreness stemming from a hard fall he took Sunday in Los Angeles. They shot 41.5% as a team, including a 5-of-15 mark from starting forward Tobias Harris. Sharpshooter Buddy Hield went 0-of-6 from beyond the arc, while getting booed in his former home arena before leaving in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury (x-rays were negative). Off-the-bench scoring punch Cameron Payne shot 3-of-10, and starters Nico Batum, Kyle Lowry, and Mo Bamba missed eight of their 10 combined attempts.

Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in his 54th consecutive double-double, surpassing Kevin Love for the longest streak since the NBA-ABA merger. Keegan Murray added 23 points for the Kings, while De’Aaron Fox also had 23 points and five assists.

The Kings built a 60-48 halftime lead, fueled by 10 second-chance points, 17 bench points (10 from Davion Mitchell), nine forced turnovers, and nine fastbreak points. That lead extended to 18 points on a layup by Chris Duarte off a feed from Sabonis, prompting a Nick Nurse timeout and an arena video to celebrate Sabonis’ double-double streak with five minutes, two seconds left in the third quarter.

The Sixers briefly got within 11 late in the third when recent 10-day signee D.J. Wilson buried two three-pointers. But Sacramento’s Alex Len got free under the basket to a layup to push his team to an 83-68 lead heading into the final period, and then the Kings scored the first six points of the period to seize a 21-point advantage.

That comfortable Sacramento cushion came after a wild first quarter, when Maxey dropped 21 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range, and Murray countered with 17 points on 6-of-8 from the floor.

» READ MORE: Sixers downplay extra motivation to beat James Harden: ‘I feel like we just kind of handled our business’

Up next for the Sixers is a home showdown Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, in former star guard James Harden’s return to Philly. They will then hit the road again for a two-game trip to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday and Toronto Raptors on Sunday.