Covington Rallies 76ers To Latest Surprising Win, NBA Scores

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Published on January 31 2017 6:14 am
Last Updated on January 31 2017 6:14 am

BY ESPN

Joel Embiid can rest that achy knee. The woeful-turned-wonderful Philadelphia 76ers are winning without him.

Robert Covington had 23 points and 10 rebounds to rally the 76ers to their latest surprising win, 122-119 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

The Sixers overcame 46 points from DeMarcus Cousins and won again without Embiid, who sat out with a left knee contusion. He also will not travel with the Sixers for road games later this week against Dallas and San Antonio.

"I'd be lying if I said it doesn't rock our boat a little bit," coach Brett Brown said. "But it is part of just the fluid side of the NBA, especially the fluid side of our still young program."

This game was postponed Nov. 30 by the NBA because of condensation on the court at the Wells Fargo Center.

The delay was worth the wait for Philly.

Down 16 in the first half, the Sixers scored 42 points in the third quarter and held on when Arron Afflalo missed a tying 3-point attempt at the horn.

"I think that the foundation is starting to prove dividends," Brown said. "This is who we are. This is what we want our culture and our program to look like."

Cousins shifted into takeover mode in the fourth. His 16th point of the quarter came on a dunk that pulled the Kings to 114-113. Cousins, though, had a bounce pass intercepted and he fouled Gerald Henderson as he tried to pass the ball upcourt. Henderson sank both free throws that made it 118-113 and helped stop a two-game losing streak.

The Sixers went 10-5 in January ; they were 10-72 in 2015-16.

"Everybody's excited about it, everybody's feeling good about themselves, as we should," said Jahlil Okafor, who scored 15 points in place of Embiid.

The Sixers let Houston's James Harden score 51 points on Friday night and Cousins joined him with another monster game in Philly. Cousins made his first five shots and scored 18 points in the first quarter. Led by Cousins, the Kings shot 61 percent in the period and led by 16 points.

"We should have been able to close this game out on our own," Cousins said.


Monday, January 30 Scoreboard

Philadelphia 122, Sacramento 119

Miami 104, Brooklyn 96

Minnesota 111, Orlando 105 (OT)

Boston 113, Detroit 109

Dallas 104, Cleveland 97

Memphis 115, Phoenix 96


Tuesday, January 31 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York at Washington, 6 p.m.

New Orleans at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Sacramento at Houston, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma  City at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Portland, 9 p.m.

Denver at Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.