Looking for a five-game winning streak, the Sixers rang in the New Year with a Wednesday night matchup against a 14-19 Sacramento Kings team embroiled in drama and controversy after the firing of former head coach Mike Brown.

Joel Embiid was sidelined for the Sixers, resting on the front end of a back-to-back, while Kelly Oubre Jr. also missed his first game of the season due to a hand injury. The Sixers did receive three reinforcements, as veterans Andre Drummond, Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon were all available after being listed as questionable leading up to tip-off. 

The first half of this one could be easily broken up into increments: during the first five minutes or so, Sacramento dominated the Sixers. But the Sixers took over soon after, dominating for a dozen minutes. They had a chance to put themselves in position to blow out the Kings, but then gave up a massive run in the final six minutes of the half which allowed Sacramento to tie the game.

After scoring 20 points in the first half, Paul George led the way in the third quarter, scoring 10 more to help the Sixers retake a healthy lead. In the fourth, George went scoreless and was at the center of a disastrous collapse filled with turnovers, breakdowns and wasted possessions.

Here is what stood out from the Sixers' 113-107 loss in Sacramento:

Sixers rotation shaken up by absences and returns

Drummond had missed three games due to a toe sprain, while Gordon had missed four games after undergoing oral surgery and Lowry missed one game, the Sixers' strong win in Portland on Monday night, due to soreness in the right hip which bothered him in November, causing him to miss five consecutive games earlier in the season.

This was the missed first game of his season for Oubre, who posted a career-high eight steals in Portland -- also tying the most steals in a single game by any NBA player this season. Guerschon Yabusele is now the only Sixer to appear in every game this season.

Yabusele started at center in place of Embiid, with Drummond coming off the bench. However, the returning Lowry started in place of Oubre. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's full starting lineup: Maxey, Lowry, George, Martin and Yabusele.

Domantas Sabonis bullies the undersized Sixers early

With regular starting wing Keegan Murray sidelined, Kings interim head coach Doug Christie opted to start three guards, with second-year pest Keon Ellis joining De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk in the starting lineup. Still, the Sixers managed to spend the first five minutes of the game being bullied by the All-Star center Sabonis, whose bruising style was impactful against Yabusele and any and all defenders forced onto him via switches.

Nurse opened the game with Lowry defending his former longtime teammate and close friend DeMar DeRozan, with Martin handling the De'Aaron Fox assignment.

Meanwhile, Sabonis scored six points in the first four minutes and change, leading the Kings while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists. As a result, Nurse was forced to call a quick timeout while trailing 15-7.

George leads a Sixers response

The Sixers surged in the immediate aftermath of Nurse's timeout, staging an 8-0 run in 90 seconds to tie the game up. A few buckets and more stellar defense from Maxey was pivotal, but it was George who helped the Sixers not just escape the early hole they had dug for themselves, but actually pull ahead and take control. 

Everyone knows George is a brilliant shot-maker, but his ability to knock down tough looks has come and gone for much of his first season with the Sixers. In this one, though, the nine-time All-Star was on the money from the outset. He knocked down a three on his first touch of the game after a wild save from Maxey:

George totaled 14 points in all during the opening frame across nine-plus minutes. He knocked down jumpers from all over the floor, taking tremendous advantage of Sacramento's lack of wings capable of handling his size. Murray's absence loomed large early.

While George led the Sixers to a 30-25 lead by the end of the first quarter, he picked up where he left off upon returning to the game at the start of the second quarter, including knocking down a gorgeous turnaround jumper over the much smaller Fox:

George reached 20 points in just his first 14 minutes of action -- quickly tying his season-high for points in a half, according to the Sixers.

Justin Edwards joins the action

A major surprise came in the final moments of the first quarter, when Nurse brought in rookie two-way wing Justin Edwards for the first rotation minutes of his NBA career. Edwards, who earned praise from Nurse during the preseason and has dominated in G League competition for the Delaware Blue Coats in recent weeks, gave Nurse an athletic presence on the wing against DeRozan.

Edwards was a +9 in about five and a half minutes of play. He didn't score, missing his lone shot on a corner triple, but did nab a steal and stood his ground against DeRozan -- not exactly an easy assignment in your first NBA rotation cameo. DeRozan hit a tough shot over Edwards, but the rookie and Philadelphia native looked comfortable during his minutes.

Gordon shows off his range

Meanwhile, Gordon's return to action was immediately a massive success. Gordon is one of the most accomplished three-point shooters in recent NBA history, far better than his 27.5 three-point percentage would indicate. He returned to play as due as anyone for a long-range heater, and he knocked down three triples in the first half, helping the Sixers create a lead as large as 14 points during the second quarter. Gordon also blocked a three-point attempt from Monk with a terrific closeout, then leaked out for an easy transition layup. 

Gordon has a whole lot more to do in his quest to prove he is still a rotation-caliber player, but his first half in Sacramento was clearly the vision the team had for him entering the season, as he fired away from beyond the arc without hesitation time and time again, helping space the floor.

George suffers a brief scare, but turns out okay

George finished the first half with 20 points, but nearly suffered an injury. George took an awkward landing under the basket and immediately began grabbing his back:

The Sixers were forced to use a timeout to give George a moment, but after the timeout he sat calmly on the bench while wearing a heating pad. George was going to check out shortly regardless; Nurse's substitution patterns called for Maxey to replace him momentarily. But George never went to the locker room and eventually returned with a few minutes remaining in the first half.

Kings end first half with major push as Sixers go silent on offense

Gordon's third triple put the Sixers up 51-37 with six minutes remaining in the first half. They had an opportunity to keep their foot on the gas and build a massive, potentially insurmountable lead -- or at least stay afloat and enter intermission with a significant advantage. Instead, they cratered on both ends of the floor. In the final six minutes of the second quarter, the Sixers were outscored 20-6.

Drummond made a shot and a free throw, while Martin knocked down his second three-pointer of the night. Otherwise, it was all Sacramento during that stretch. Sabonis continued to have his way on the interior -- he posted 13 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in the first half alone -- and a handful of other Kings did their part, with Trey Lyles knocking down some timely threes as well.

Ultimately, the highlight of the half came on its final play, when Fox tied the game at the buzzer with a triple:

The Sixers completely squandered their chance to exploit Sacramento's rough first 18 minutes of basketball, and at the center of their struggles during this pivotal period were Maxey and Yabusele. Maxey failed to score in seven minutes and 14 seconds of playing time in the second quarter, while Yabusele was dominated by Sabonis on one end of the floor and failed to score at any point during the entire half on the other. Lowry also went scoreless during his 10 minutes in the first half, and the Sixers were outscored by 16 points during that time.

Sixers pull ahead in third quarter, with George 

DeRozan kicked off the scoring in the second half with a classic DeRozan mid-range jumper, putting the Kings ahead for the first time since the opening quarter. But the Sixers quickly responded: Martin knocked down a mid-range jumper of his own, George connected from long-range, Yabusele got on the board with a pair of his own triples and Maxey converted a picture-perfect left-handed floater at the end of the shot clock before knocking down his first three-pointer of the game:

With Yabusele struggling on both ends of the floor and failing to contain Sabonis and Drummond posting eight points, six rebounds and two assists in a dozen minutes prior to halftime, it seemed reasonable to assume Nurse would at least consider starting Drummond in the middle in the second half. Instead, he stuck to his guns with Yabusele, and it paid off: Nurse's starting five outscored Sacramento by nine points in the first six minutes and 48 seconds of the second half.

Sacramento made another brief push, trimming the Sixers' lead back down to three points, but George put his foot down this time around, scoring at the rim twice in a row -- a fantastic sign given his troubling lack of rim shot attempts so far this season:

George then connected from beyond the arc to notch his second 30-point game as a Sixer. It only took him 25 minutes to reach the mark. Following his lead, the Sixers led the Kings 89-80 after a strong third quarter.

Maxey and Martin give Sixers some relief as Fox heats up

Fox and, to a lesser degree, DeRozan, got hot early in the fourth quarter, and Sacramento looked like the best version of itself offensively. Initially, the Sixers did not let it get to them, as Maxey and Martin came up large with some extremely timely buckets. With a step-back triple which forced a Christie timeout, Maxey reached 20 points and three made three-point shots for the 10th consecutive game. According to the Sixers, only one NBA player has had a longer streak of games with those marks this season:

Martin looks worlds better in every facet of his game right now compared to many of his first 20-plus games in a Sixers uniform. Martin hounded DeRozan and Fox for much of the game and kept each one in check while handling those assignments, forced a few turnovers, knocked down multiple threes for the third time in five games, had some impressive assists and converted a pair of self-created rim finishes. He also knocked down this tough jumper in a crucial moment out of a timeout:

Sixers collapse in fourth quarter, with George at the center of the mess

Sacramento kept pushing, though, and the Sixers began shooting themselves in the foot time and time again. Costly turnover after costly turnover allowed the Kings to not just tie up the game with a minute remaining, but take the lead with 32.8 seconds left on the clock when Yabusele was called for a goaltending violation.

The Sixers were in need of a bucket to tie the game or take the lead, and George -- who went scoreless during the frame -- committed his fifth turnover of the game. The Sixers needed to get a stop in order to have a chance to tie the game, and at the very end of the shot clock, George fouled Monk under the basket. Not only did it enable Monk to put the game away with two free throws, but it was George's sixth personal. He fouled out in this one after back-to-back games with five personals, perhaps signaling a new cause for concern moving feared.

Give Sacramento credit for not relenting in their pursuit of a comeback, but with George's first three quarters and the closing performances of Maxey and Martin prior to the game's final few minutes, the Sixers should have done too much for the Kings to overcome. Instead, self-inflicted wounds cost them a chance to extend their winning streak to five games.

Up next: The Sixers will be back in action on Thursday night in a nationally-televised matchup against the sputtering Golden State Warriors, with Stephen Curry's status to be determined -- as of this writing, Curry is questionable for the game due to a right thumb sprain.

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