Scene Setter:
Competing with steady energy and effort two games into their Western Conference tour, the 76ers (2-31) will play the first of three contests in a row in the state of California. At 10:00 PM EST on Wednesday, the team’s itinerary places it in the capital city of the Golden State, where the Sacramento Kings (12-19) await at Sleep Train Arena. The two teams worked together this summer to arrange a trade that, in part, delivered Nik Stauskas and Carl Landry to the Sixers. Down 21 points mid-way through the second quarter of Monday’s meeting with the Utah Jazz, the Sixers appeared to be in an unenviable spot. But, as has been the case for most of the season, Brett Brown’s team steadily chipped away at its deficit. Then, in the third period, the Sixers exploded for a 33-10 surge that lifted them to a brief fourth-quarter lead. The Sixers later recaptured a two-point edge with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. The Jazz, however, closed the contest on a 6-0 spurt for the 95-91 victory. Ish Smith topped the Sixers with a season-best 22 points. Big men Nerlens Noel and Richaun Holmes each generated 18 points.Sacramento has so far been one of the more mercurial teams in the NBA. Over the summer, there were multiple reports of discontent within the organization, as tensions apparently arose between owner Vivek Ranadive and head George Karl, and between Karl and All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins. Even though the Kings have endured some tumultuous stretches since Karl’s hiring last February, the club had been showing recent signs of progress. Heading into the Christmas holiday, Sacramento had posted four wins in six games. The Kings’ past two outings, though, have been losses, including Monday’s 122-103 setback at Golden State. The Kings managed to establish a three-point halftime lead, but unraveled when Cousins was ejected in the third quarter. Series:
The Sixers have enjoyed a successful run against Sacramento in the past decade. During this period, the Sixers have prevailed in 14 of 19 match-ups with the Kings, including five of the teams’ past seven meetings. A season ago, the Sixers beat Sacramento, 114-107, at The Center, with Robert Covington and Nerlens Noel helping lead a balanced attack. Covington connected on six of his 12 three-point tries, while Noel delivered a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. Eleven days later, at Sleep Train Arena, the Kings snuck out a 107-106 victory. DeMarcus Cousins was a force in both contests, cranking out 39 points and 24 rebounds in the first game, and 33 points and 17 boards in the second.Subplots:
On Wednesday, Nik Stauskas will return to the city where he spent his first NBA season. Sacramento chose the shooting guard from Michigan University with the eighth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He then had a front row seat for what was anything but a stable year for the Kings. In the span of a single season, Sacramento went through three different head coaches. Mike Malone, now with Denver, guided the Kings to a promising 9-5 start, but was fired amidst a 2-8 slump. Tyrone Corbin, who gained head coaching experience with Utah, filled in for the next 28 games, winning seven times. Sacramento then managed to lure George Karl to the organization during the All-Star Game break. He finished the season 11-19.”With each coach, we kind of had a different focus, or different style of play,” Stauskas said. “Getting to play under George Karl the last couple months of the season was good because he’s known as one of the best coaches this league has ever had. Just to learn from him, and play under him for a few months, that was cool.”Stauskas posted 4.4 points in 15.4 minutes per game as a rookie, and on July 9th, was shipped to the SIxers via a deal that also included Carl Landry, Jason Thompson (who was later dealt to Golden State), and a 2018 first-round draft pick. As part of the exchange, the Sixers also obtained the right to swap first-round draft spots with Sacramento this coming June. “I just learned it’s a business at the end of the day,” said Stauskas of his experience with the Kings. “I know everyone always says that. It became a reality for me when they traded me after my rookie year…and all the coaching changes that we had, I just really understood that no one’s job in this league is safe. Teams are always looking to get better, and if you’re not producing, you might be on your way out. That’s one of the things I learned from Sacramento.”
The Sixers and Sacramento share several coaching staff connections. Two of Brett Brown’s former assistants, Vance Walberg and Chad Iske, left the Sixers within the past calendar year to join George Karl’s Kings. Walberg and Iske both broke into the NBA under Karl during his nine-year run with the Denver Nuggets. Their connection to the league’s sixth all-time-winningest head coach made them appealing candidates to Brown, who was left with little time to formulate a staff upon being hired by the Sixers on August 14th, 2013.”I think it was not by mistake, or just plucking people,” Brown said of inviting Walberg and Iske to join the Sixers. “When I paid attention to Coach Karl’s history, I respect it. I’ve always wanted to play with pace. That’s what he is known for. That’s how he’s built his programs. And so when I got the job middle of August [2013], nobody was free. You’re having to fill 14, 12 people on a staff, when all my friends that are head coaches are going away for their coaching retreats, and figuring out how to form their season, when I’m trying to just figure out who’s on my bench, video, stats, analytics, all that.””I know one of the coaches from Coach Karl’s staff very well, I’ve known him for years. He was a player in New Zealand when I was a young coach in 1987, and John Welch is on the staff with George Karl, and had been a part of that. So John shared with me his opinion on Vance Walberg and Chad Iske. I didn’t know any of them. I hired about 12 people I never met, never knew. How about that? How risky is that? And, you know, unbelievable, it’s played out. I love my staff. It was born out of the respect with Coach Karl, and the contact I had with somebody on his staff.”Walberg, boasts a diverse background, having spent extensive time at the high school, college, and professional levels. Iske, meanwhile, started with Denver before Karl’s arrival. Over a 14-year period, he climbed the rungs of Nuggets basketball operations ladder, ascending from the status of scouting department intern to full-time assistant on Karl’s bench.
On Tuesday, Brett Brown classified Jahlil Okafor a “game-day decision” for Wednesday’s tilt in Sacramento. The third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft didn’t take part in Tuesday’s practice due to continuing pain in his right knee. Okafor has sat out the Sixers’ past two outings. He previously appeared in the team’s December 23rd 113-100 loss to Milwaukee.”It’s just part of an NBA season,” said Brown, discussing the nature of Okafor’s injury. “It wasn’t a single instance or incident that made it be what it is now. It’s just wear and tear of a 19-year old figuring out the volume of games and the frequency of games that the NBA gives us.”Okafor has played in 29 of 33 possible games this season, which is nearing the end of its second full month. A year ago, during his lone NCAA campaign, Okafor didn’t miss a single game. Duke, however, didn’t play its 38th contest – the national championship final – until April 6th, nearly five months after the Blue Devils’ schedule began. Brown said, “I don’t think people, and I mean this, I don’t think you guys, and fans, and, at times, even me, realize how hard it is for a 19-year old rookie to come on, and just the relentless part of the NBA. 48 minutes, demanding coaches, media scrutiny, it’s a hard landscape as a 19-year old, and so, Jahlil goes through six weeks of what normally would be a whole college season, as far as how many games and so on, and physically and mentally it takes its toll. And so, this is just one of these things that’s just part and parcel of the NBA.”Brown added “it’s going to be a collaborative, responsible decision” in determining whether Okafor will suit up against the Kings.
Sixers Health Report:
Jahlil Okafor (right knee)
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