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 Perhaps the Slash Brothers?
"I heard that one from the fans during the game," Philadelphia
center Spencer Hawes said. "I like it. Let's keep playing this way,
and maybe we'll hear it more."
The way the 76ers played in a 113-104 victory over the Sacramento
Kings on Thursday at Sleep Train Arena, and the way they played in
the two games preceding it has returned optimism that faded after a
wretched 21-game stretch in which the 76ers won only five.
But by holding off a Sacramento rally in the fourth quarter and
winning for the third straight time, Philadelphia matched its
longest winning streak of the season. This time, all three victories
have been on the road.
"Defense," Hawes, the ex-King said when explaining what's changed.
"We're making a more concerted effort on the defensive end, and
we're sharing the ball on the offensive end. When you play hard on
defense, it feeds into your offense. It's fun when you play that
way."
Forward Thaddeus Young finished with 28 points, most of them off
feeds from Turner, listed as a forward but often playing with the
ball in his hands, and Carter-Williams, the rookie point guard who
penetrated the key mostly at will. Young also finished with a
career-high six steals, one of them that led to to a Tony Wroten
free throw that stopped the bleeding after Philadelphia's 83-65 lead
had been cut to 98-93 with just over eight minutes left in the
fourth.
Carter-Williams followed that with a 5-foot leaner on the 76ers'
next possession, and Young added a rebound jam to put Philadelphia
back up 103-93 with 5:56 to go.
The Kings didn't get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
"I (thought) that we just had no energy tonight," Kings coach
Michael Malone said. "We didn't defend for three quarters."
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Turner added 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and
Wroten scored 21 in 31 minutes off the bench for the 76ers, who
won at Denver on Wednesday and were 1-12 on the road before
their current streak. Carter-Williams finished with seven
points, five assists and four rebounds, all below his season
averages, but five Philadelphia players scored in double-digits,
and its bench outscored Sacramento's 41-28.
"A team win," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "That's the thing
that sticks out the most. As a team, everybody had something to
say in this one."
Center DeMarcus Cousins scored a game-high 33 points and added
14 rebounds for the Kings, his sixth straight double-double and
19th this season. But he had five of Sacramento's 23 turnovers
and sat out a critical stretch in the fourth quarter after
picking up his fifth foul.
Guard Isaiah Thomas tallied 23 points and seven assists, and
forward Rudy Gay had 18 points and seven rebounds for
Sacramento.
The Kings staged a small rally at the beginning of the fourth
quarter. Kings guard Jimmer Fredette scored 12 straight points
(he finished with a season-high 15) as Sacramento cut
Philadelphia's margin to 96-91.
Then Carter-Williams and Turner did their thing for
Philadelphia, which outscored Sacramento 58-46 inside the paint
and negated the Kings' usual run to 100 points. Sacramento
topped the century mark for the eighth straight game in for the
14th in the past 15.
"We just couldn't stop them one-on-one," Fredette said. "They do
a lot of one-on-one, and they obviously got out in transition.
They got a lot of second-chance points but also they got to the
paint and scored at a very high clip."
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