The Sacramento Kings needed a spark on Saturday as they saw their 17-point lead in the third quarter turn into a 10-point deficit in the fourth. The Philadelphia 76ers had begun to take control of the game as they used their talent and their veteran experience to do so.
The Kings turned to second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton to get the job done and the young man stepped up to the challenge. He had 14 points in the fourth quarter, including knocking down four triples, and he almost helped the Kings steal it before Philadelphia hung on for a 103-101 win.
Haliburton knocked down a tough fadeaway triple in the corner in front of Philadelphia’s bench that left Danny Green feeling impressed.
“Hoo!” said Green. “I think that describes enough of it right there. Sidestep, stepback, fadeaway 3 over the backboard in the corner, I thought that was for sure gonna come off hard. It didn’t touch anything, but the net and it showed what kind of night he had.”
Haliburton also shot 11-for-12 from the foul line as he was aggressive with getting into the paint and that was something that bothered Green for the most part.
“He was getting to the free-throw line a lot though,” Green added. “He was very active, he was getting into the paint, made some adjustments, but the fact that he was getting downhill and getting to his floater, it opened the game a lot of him and them. So we tried to keep him off the free-throw line, but once he started hitting the 3-ball, he had a good rhythm. He kept them in the game.”
All in all, Haliburton finished with a career-high 38 points and he had seven assists. It was a big performance for a young player.
“I’m never surprised by anyone,” said Rivers. “This is the NBA. Anybody can have a night on any night. You see it all the time. He made some tough shots. I thought early on, we didn’t guard him very well, but he’s a good player. He’s a terrific player.”
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