Three reasons the Sixers won at Sacramento

The 76ers kicked off their road trip Tuesday night with a 119-111 win over the Sacramento Kings, rebounding from a first half when defense wasn’t a very high priority. The second half, especially the fourth quarter, was a different story.

Here are three reasons the Sixers won:

It’s hard to say that the Sixers did well defensively on somebody who scored 34 points and had 10 assists, but that was the case against De’Aaron Fox — at least for the second half. Fox had 23 points at halftime but a key was Matisse Thybulle’s defense on Fox, especially in the fourth quarter.

Fox might be as quick with the ball as anybody in the NBA, and he was blowing by the Sixers to the basket in the first half. They had to play off him and he was also hitting threes, going 3-for-5 in the first half. He was 0-for-7 in the second half from beyond the arc.

Realizing that Fox is quick enough to get by any defender, Thybulle forced him toward Sixers weakside defenders. In the fourth quarter, Dwight Howard blocked a shot against Fox when Thybulle forced him toward the Sixers center. Thybulle even had this key fourth-quarter block against Fox.

Thybulle often gets beaten off the dribble by quicker players, but his ability to recover as he did on that block was impressive. In the fourth quarter, Thybulle played 11 minutes and 40 seconds and had a plus-10 rating. In the fourth quarter, Fox was 3-for-13 shooting with a turnover, playing all 12 minutes.

Joel Embiid had a rare off-shooting night, shooting 6-for-15, including 0-for-2 from three-point range, but he was effective in other areas, including being a facilitator. Embiid had a season-high six assists. One reason Embiid has been such a dominant scorer is that he has gotten to the foul line frequently.

Embiid entered the game leading the NBA with 11.3 free-throw attempts per game. Against the Kings, Embiid hit 13 of 14. He was also a force on the boards with 17 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.

And while Embiid was off a little from the perimeter, he was still able to take high-percentage shots such as this one.

Tobias Harris has had a penchant for late-game heroics. Against the Kings, he scored 12 fourth-quarter points, hitting 4 of 5 shots from the field, including both three-point attempts, and two free throws.

In the fourth, he showed his offensive versatility, first hitting a mid-range jumper over former Sixer Glenn Robinson III, then posting Robinson up another basket. Harris also hit two catch-and-shoot three-pointers.

Here is one of those catch-and-shoot threes:

The Sixers outscored Sacramento, 32-20, in the fourth quarter, and Harris played the entire 12 minutes.