Sixers look to ‘ride our wave’ and complete sweep of West Coast trip with a win over the Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The 76ers traversed the West over the course of six days, playing inspiring basketball in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Portland.

The games were frenzied not only because of mostly tough competition, but because the Sixers (29-16) battled through the fatigue that goes with playing three games in four nights. Then their game plan for Portland star Dame Lillard called for them getting out of their comfort zone. But going 4-0 against the Jazz, Lakers, Clippers and Trail Blazers provided some peace of mind. It also enabled the Sixers to pull into a second-place tie with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference standings.

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Now, they’re in River City on the final leg of their five-game road trip with the sole goal of making their trip a complete success. But Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center is expected to test their fortitude much more than the previous contests on the trip.

This game is much more than the Sixers facing the Kings, who as of Friday had the third-best record in the Western Conference. This game is also about finishing strong and trying to complete a season series sweep of the Kings, who took a 25-18 record into Friday’s home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” James Harden said. “We’ve just got to continue to do what we are doing.”

But the Sixers know that isn’t always as easy as it sounds during the final game of an eight-day road trip. Players aren’t above losing their focus in the last game. Fatigued from the road, getting home to relax sometimes creeps into their minds.

“We just can’t [just] show up,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We have to play. This is the NBA, and Sacramento is terrific. That game there, they’re going to play as fast as anybody in the league. So we’re going to have to deal with that.”

The Sixers routed the Kings, 123-103, at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 13. On that night, the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox had 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting with one assist, tying a season low, after missing the previous two games with a foot injury.

In the 17 games since that contest, Fox has averaged 26.2 points on 51.7% shooting along with 6.8 assists. The Kings are 11-6, including a five-game winning streak they took into Friday’s game.

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The Sixers have also progressed.

Once struggling to live up to preseason hype, the Sixers are elated to be in second place.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Harden said. “We’ve got a lot of chemistry to continue to build on. But it feels good. I feel like we’re in a really good space as a team.

“We’re finally healthy for the most part. So we just have to ride our wave.”