The Rundown: 76ers down Kings for 5th straight win

Scoreboard

Celtics 106, Raptors 104

Wizards 138, Magic 118

Hornets 122, Hawks 118

Cavaliers 114, Bucks 102

Timberwolves 113, Rockets 104

Suns 112, Pacers 107

76ers 129, Kings 127

What went down

The Sacramento Kings have won six straight games heading into their match-up with the Philadelphia 76ers. With Joel Embiid and James Harden, Philly’s top two players, being held out of the game due to injury management, the Kings looked like they were on their way to their seventh straight dub.

Midway through the game, that seemed like the case. Sacramento’s starters carved up the undermanned Philly squad and built a 21-point lead after Keegan Murray scored on a tip-in late in the second period. The Kings were setting themselves up for a nice and easy win.

Sacramento forgot that Philadelphia still had one big gun playing that night though: Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey closed the first half with a strong drive to the hoop to cut the deficit down to a more manageable number. He opened the second half with a floater to get it down to single digits. All he needed was to put the Sixers in striking distance to give them enough fuel to finish out the game strong. He did just that.

The rest of the Sixers joined in on Maxey’s barrage to put them up ahead in the second half. In the dying moments of the game, they returned to Maxey to deliver the win. He hit the dagger with less than a minute left in the game to put Philly up by four points. That was enough of a cushion to hold on to the crucial win.

ily @TyreseMaxey! <3 pic.twitter.com/ryNKtGJ69s

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 22, 2023

Maxey led six players in double figures with 32 points. He also had six assists in the game. Tobias Harris, Montrezl Harrell, and Georges Niang all scored 17 points apiece. De’Aaron Fox scored 31 points to lead the Kings. He was backed up by Harrison Barnes who had 27. The Sixers not only snapped the Kings’ streak, they extended their own run to five straight wins.

Big-time baller

This was the season Anthony Edwards was supposed to take the Ja Morant-like leap. Even before the season began, there were already analysts willing to tag him as the leader of the pack in Minnesota, even with Karl-Anthony Towns still on the team. The expectations were even higher when Towns went down with a calf injury back in November.

While Edwards’ numbers are up across the board, it’s just not the huge step forward that many have envisioned. To make matters worse, the Timberwolves haven’t risen up the standings like everyone thought they would before the season began.

That’s why when Antman has games like the ones today, it’s a nice reminder of how good he truly is.

He exploded for 44 points on 58 percent shooting. Beyond the scoring he rounded out his line with six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocks. More importantly, Minny got the win.

Hopefully, this serves as a reminder to Edwards as well of how much higher he can reach to help his team win.

What he said

Edwards is always a fun interview. He’s one of the few players in the league with no filter. He will say what’s on his mind, consequences be damned.

In today’s game, Edwards put Alperen Sengun on a poster. Not once, but twice.

ANTHONY EDWARDS POSTER 😱

WATCH: https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/jlOW2CNy3z

— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2023

ANTHONY EDWARDS.

OH MY 🤯

📲 https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/UtHCNxOMWp

— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2023

When asked about the highlight dunks, Edwards wasn’t only brutally honest about how he was able to do it, but also with his difficulty pronouncing Sengun’s name properly.

Spoke to Anthony Edwards about his two poster dunks on Alperenn Sengun after the game. Loved his reply because he kept it real. pic.twitter.com/LnJwzJI5i2

— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) January 22, 2023

Did you see that?

Darius Garland had one of the best defenders in the league all confused with this fake:

This Darius Garland fake 🤯

WATCH: https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/38LjD0fLDL

— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2023

Falling for a ball fake on the ground in one thing. But getting spun around by a fake mid-air? Oof.