There's no sugarcoating the Philadelphia 76ers' embarrassing loss to the Sacramento Kings: they completely choked away a game they had control over. The Sixers lost 113-107 to usher in the new year, falling to 13-18 on the season.

Tyrese Maxey and Paul George combined for 57 points but had no answers down the stretch with Joel Embiid resting on the first night of a back-to-back. The Kings ripped off a 15-0 run to steal the win. Maxey explained clearly why the Sixers couldn’t do anything on offense in the final few minutes: their offense was entirely disorganized.

“We couldn’t score,” Maxey told reporters. “They took us out of a lot of the stuff we wanted to accomplish. Most of that was my fault so I got to do a better job at the end of closing out that game.”

One bad play after another allowed the Kings to storm back and win their second straight game under interim head coach Doug Christie. Although much of that responsibility falls to Maxey, the lead guard, he was far from the only player making mistakes. George committed two brutal turnovers and no one else came through with a bucket. That horrid offense led to easy scoring opportunities for the Kings, who also benefited from some ill-timed fouls from Philadelphia.

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George was cooking for most of the night, entering the fourth quarter with 30 points. But he ended the game with the same amount and fouled out. According to ESPN's win probability, Philly had a 94.5 percent chance to win with 3:34 left in the game.

“Yeah, just bad time management on all of those plays on my behalf,” George told reporters. “Just not understanding how close the clock was. All of those situations, just putting myself in a bad spot. I should just be more aggressive. But I’m going to watch those last four or five minutes of this game and just learn from it. I felt like I had a good groove. The back did limit me a little bit with just a little tightness and soreness. No excuse man, I got to be better down the stretch.”

While the 76ers certainly appreciate Maxey and George owning up to their mistakes, they also need their stars to veer the team back onto the right course when things go haywire. It comes down to them and the coaching staff getting the team organized on offense instead of just relying on hero ball. They've got to get back up and face the Golden State Warriors now, though Embiid seems likely to return to the lineup.