76ers beat Kings 117-103 to end road skid at 15

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - March 24, 2013

It was a rare show of offensive explosiveness for the Sixers, who came in last in the NBA with an average of just under 93 points a game. They had 91 entering the fourth quarter and shot 49 percent to snap their 15-game road skid and beat the Kings for the fifth straight time in Sacramento.

The Sixers' last road win had come New Year's Day against the Los Angeles Lakers. Philadelphia's road losing streak was its longest since the club dropped 20 in a row from Dec. 28, 1987-March 4, 1988.

Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points, Marcus Thornton added 22 and Tyreke Evans had 19 points and eight assists for the Kings, who had their three-game home win streak snapped. Patrick Patterson chipped in 12 points.

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins had five fouls by the midway point of the third quarter and finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes.

Lavoy Allen had a career-high 20 points and seven rebounds for the Sixers. Damien Wilkins scored 17 points, Spencer Hawes had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Thaddeus Young had 14 points.

It was a great overall game for Holiday, who also had 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

The Sixers conclude a four-game road trip Monday in Utah, while Philadelphia will play nine of its final 13 games on the road.

Following the Sixers' early spurt in the fourth, the Kings could never get the lead under double digits. After getting to within 109-96, Young had a tip-in for a basket and followed with a layup to give Philadelphia a 113-96 lead with 2:42 remaining.

Ahead by nine to start the fourth quarter, Wilkins made a 3-pointer that ignited a 14-2 run culminating with a three-point play by Wilkins at the 8:23 mark that put Philadelphia in front 105-84.

The Sixers continually hit from the perimeter in the third quarter when they outscored the Kings 33-24. Holiday scored eight points to help Philadelphia, which made 15 of 24 shots to take a 91-82 lead into the fourth.

Wright enjoyed a big first half with 16 points and was instrumental in the Sixers rallying from a nine-point deficit after one quarter to tie the game at 58 by intermission. Wright had four 3-pointers in the second quarter when he scored 13 points.

Evans had 12 of his 14 first-half points in the opening quarter. Thortnton scored 12 points in the second quarter for the Kings, who were outscored 36-27.

Sacramento city officials announced Saturday they have a term sheet for a $447 million downtown arena. The proposed arena deal will go before the city council on Tuesday. That would allow Sacramento to pitch its plan April 3 to the NBA in New York.

A Sacramento group, that includes Mark Mastrov, Ron Burkle and Vivek Ranadive, wants to buy the team from the Maloof family and keep it in Sacramento, where the franchise has been since 1985.

Hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer head up a Seattle group that has signed a contract to purchase the Kings from the Maloofs and plans to move the team to Seattle for next season.

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