In Wednesday’s New Year’s Day game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Kings flipped the script and staged a furious comeback in the fourth quarter to win 113 to 107. When Philadelphia star Tyrese Maxey grabbed a turnover from De’Aaron Fox and hit a running layup, to put the ball in the goal 76ers were up 107 to 98 with 3:34 left, it seemed like recent history was about to change in the Golden Repeat 1 center. Instead, Sacramento went on a 15-0 run to close out the game and secure its second straight win, 113-107.

It was the Kentucky connection of Fox and Malik Monk that secured the game on offense; Fox finished the game with 35 points and 4 assists on 13 of 16 shooting, scoring 14 of those points in the final period. Monk had 20 points and 6 assists in the game and had 10 points and went 8 of 8 from the free throw line in Game 4. But the Kings also increased their defensive prowess in the matchup, stopping the 76ers on their final eight possessions, which included two big steals from DeMar DeRozan.

DeRozan finished the game with 18 points, 5 boards and the DPOG crown, while Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 21 rebounds and 7 assists (albeit with 7 turnovers), celebrating at times against a 76ers front line missing star Joel Embiid .

Paul George had 30 points and 8 boards for the Sixers, but didn’t score any of those points in the 4th quarter. Maxey finished with 27 points and 7 assists.

Keegan Murray missed the competition due to ankle pain. In the absence of Murray and Embiid, both teams ran with smaller starting lineups – Nick Nurse started Guerschon Yabusele (8 points and 1 rebound) to compete with Sabonis at center, while Doug Christie started Keon Ellis in Murray’s place. Ellis finished the game with 9 points, 4 steals and 2 blocks and hit a big three with 1:48 left in the game that kept the Kings’ momentum going.

In the final minutes, it sounded like Golden 1 centers were watching a playoff contest. To celebrate the win, Coach Christie took the team to see the beam in person.

Doug Christie brought the entire Kings team to the roof of the Golden 1 Center after the game. You’ll be the light of the city, man. And when you light that bastard on fire, it means something to people. “That’s amazing.”

– Deuce Mason (@deucemason.bsky.social) 2025-01-02T08:09:23.716Z

The Kings remain in Sacramento tomorrow to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.