Sixers Notes: Sixers Move Away From Embiid-Okafor Pairing Vs. Kings

SACRAMENTO - Joel Embiid has been emphasizing the need to close out games all season and Monday's down-to-the-wire loss to the Kings exemplified that.

"We should be winning more games," Embiid said. "We just can't finish games yet. We're young, [it's] a new team so we're still learning how to play with each other."

The Sixers had momentum going into the fourth quarter, but gave up a 13-0 run to let the Kings back in it. The home team chipped away and took a one-point lead off a Garrett Temple three with 58.7 seconds remaining.

DeMarcus Cousins made a critical trey with 20.9 on the clock to give the Kings a two-point lead they never relinquished (see game story). 

The Sixers committed eight turnovers in the fourth quarter alone, which led to 10 Kings points.

Sixers move away from two centers vs. Kings
The Sixers are following through with the two-center starting lineup of Embiid and Jahlil Okafor through their four-game road trip. On Monday, Brett Brown altered the plan slightly.

Brown had been pairing them at the beginning of the first and third quarters. Against the Kings, he went with a more traditional power forward-center pairing out of halftime.

"We wanted to make sure we had our bigs available going down the stretch," Brown said after the Kings' 102-100 victory. "I think that the start of the game was a little bit worrying. We've tested some things, it didn't feel as good as it did with Ersan (Ilyasova). I felt like Jahlil could be featured a little bit more when we brought him off a bench and also paired him with a stretch-four. I'm not sure if that's going to last, but initially that was the reason for it."

The shift really did what the Sixers already had done at the start of the season. The acquisition of Ilyasova boosted their depth at power forward and enhanced their four-five combinations.

"We were in the game the whole time, but obviously they went with Anthony Tolliver, trying to stretch the floor," Ilyasova said. "I think the coaches are trying to be more mobile as far as trying to run the floor."

The Sixers did not experiment with an Embiid-Nerlens Noel pairing in this matchup against the Kings. 

Henderson leaves game 
The effects of two hip surgeries still linger with Gerald Henderson. He has been playing through the discomfort all season but it got to be too much late in Monday's game. Henderson checked out in the fourth quarter because of it.

"I was just in a bit of pain," Henderson said. "I just felt that some other guys would do better at the time. I wasn't moving great at all, getting blown by on defense, and I really wanted to win the game so I told [Brown] to take me out."

Henderson underwent his first operation in 2011 for a torn labrum, followed by debridement arthroscopy surgery in 2015.

"I play with a good amount of soreness every game, but that's to be expected, you have two surgeries on something," Henderson said. "Today, it's pain and tightness. When you're tight you're not really mobile, you've got to go out there and guard guys that can play. Tonight it just wasn't happening."

Henderson aims to play Thursday against the Jazz. He hopes rest and treatment will help him get on the court. 

"He's been gutsing through a lot," Brown said. "If he is anything, he's a competitive pro and he is a veteran leader."