Kings at 76ers
Teams looking to the future meet Friday when the Sacramento Kings visit the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are trying to stockpile assets, mostly in the form of draft picks, to find players to play alongside rookie Nerlens Noel and injured big man Joel Embiid. The Kings, on the other hand, are trying to find pieces to fit around star center DeMarcus Cousins, and one could be Ben McLemore, who scored a season-high 27 points to help the Kings snap a four-game losing streak Wednesday in Charlotte.
"He was making some jump shots and ran the court pretty well,” coach George Karl said of the seventh overall player drafted in 2013. "He's working on his game, the confidence is coming and tonight he was a guy who I couldn't take off the floor.” McLemore is shooting 43.5 percent from the floor this season but nearly half of his field-goal attempts are from beyond the arc, and he averages just two free-throw attempts per game. The shooting guard will go at Philadelphia, which is 1-2 during a five-game homestand and coming off a 104-95 overtime loss to Chicago on Wednesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE KINGS (22-41): Sacramento improved to 2-4 on its current eight-game road trip that ends Saturday in Washington and is 4-7 under Karl.
Cousins had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the 113-106 victory over Charlotte, and combined with McLemore and Rudy Gay (26 points) to score the final 25 Kings' points. Sacramento entered the Hornets' contest averaging league-worst totals in points allowed per game (109.5), field-goal percentage (47.5), 3-point percentage (38.6) and points off turnovers (22.2) over the previous 10 games, but held the Hornets below those totals in each of the categories.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (14-50): Ish Smith scored a career-high 23 points and Isaiah Canaan added 20 against the Bulls. Thomas Robinson, who is averaging 20.3 rebounds per 36 minutes since joining the team eight games ago, grabbed 15 in just 18 minutes against Chicago, becoming the first player since Orlando’s Bison Dele in 1992 (17 rebounds, 18 minutes) to record that many rebounds in that few minutes. "He peppers the stat sheets regularly, especially the rebound column,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "When you look at his tenacity, capacity to go after things and competitive side, you have to respect that. He wants to be on the court. He’s trying to find minutes, trying to find a role."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Sixers tied a franchise high with 41 3-point attempts against the Bulls - making 11 - and made just 12-of-25 from the free–throw line.
2. Cousins has scored in double digits in each of his 49 games this season, and with 3,575 rebounds, passed Vlade Divac for third all-time on the Sacramento franchise list against Charlotte.
3. Gay is averaging 24.9 points on 51.9-percent shooting, including 15-of-27 from the arc, over his last seven games to go with 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists.