76ers coast past the Kings, 102-80

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - If this were a booing town, booing would have filled Power Balance Pavilion.

The 76ers were so superior, both in focus and performance, to the hometown Sacramento Kings on Friday night that at no point during the second half did it seem even remotely possible that the Kings would win.

The Sixers did, 102-80.

At the third-quarter buzzer, there were a few faint boos, but they were quickly drowned out by excitement for the between-quarter entertainment, which was probably a welcome break from watching their Kings shoot 34.5 percent from the floor and turn the ball over 22 times.

"It was defense," said Sixers power forward Elton Brand, who scored 10 points. "We turned them over, got into transition, got easy looks. Again, we're playing a young, talented team. They're not playing for the playoffs, but they could get hot . . . we did what we had to do."

The Sixers, who finish this trip Saturday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, improved to 36-33. The Kings dropped to 16-51.

After the game, Sixers coach Doug Collins said he would rest swingman Andre Iguodala for Saturday night's game.

"We're not going to play him in the back-to-back," Collins explained. "I talked to him. We're going to let that leg rest. It's nothing serious. He could play." After Saturday's game, the Sixers don't play again until Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks.

On Friday, Kings starting center Samuel Dalembert, traded from the Sixers last summer, finished with six points on 3-for-10 shooting with 13 rebounds. Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 15 points, all in the first half.

Collins rested his main guys, Brand and Iguodala, during the fourth quarter.

To guarantee a successful trip, the Sixers needed this game. The trip's final game, against Portland, would be the less-winnable one - it's against a very good Western Conference team inside a very loud home arena.

Friday's game was the target. And the Sixers responded accordingly.

By halftime, the Sixers had built a 55-38 lead. They almost looked as if they wanted this thing over in the first half so their beleaguered starters could catch some pine down the stretch and rest.

The Sixers built a double-digit lead in the first quarter, stretched it to about 14, then finally extended it to 17 on a transition three-point play by forward Thaddeus Young late in the second quarter.

There was no moment when the Sixers didn't appear to be searching for a gap, prepared to explode to the rim for more points. They snagged rebounds and turned immediately upcourt, looking for easy points and a lopsided victory.

In that first half, the Kings managed only 23 points in the first quarter, 15 in the second. They shot only 31.8 percent from the floor, and their leading scorer was point guard Beno Udrih, who scored an unfrightening nine first-half points. Reserve Omri Casspi, who didn't check into the game until the second quarter, scored seven.

Sacramento turned the ball over 12 times through two quarters and allowed the Sixers 15 points off those turnovers.

Holiday paced the Sixers. He pulled down five first-half rebounds, started the team's transition game, collected four first-half steals, and made both of his three-point attempts.

By the time the third quarter was set to begin, the Kings were buried on the scoreboard thanks to the Sixers' focus on snagging this game before the flight to Portland.