The Philadelphia 76ers were hit in the mouth early by the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
After the Sixers’ good start, the Suns responded in a big way. They outscored Philadelphia 39-24 in the second quarter and 30-19 in the third as they cruised to a 115-102 win. Phoenix outrebounded Philadelphia, 55-40, and dominated the offensive boards.
“That kind of took the life out of us for a little bit,” Kelly Oubre Jr. told reporters about Phoenix’s second quarter. “Which we have to do a better job of maintaining our poise throughout other team’s runs. They have so much talent. We kind of just thought it was worse than what it was. They carried that momentum throughout the whole game. A big shoutout to Grayson Allen who stepped up big tonight for them and was the catalyst for their win.”
It was a tough all-around effort for the Sixers in what ended up being a long night. The Sixers shot 43.2% from the floor compared to 50% for the Suns and Phoenix made 19 3s, including nine from Allen.
“We need everybody to step up and be locked in and focused,” Oubre added. “Be very disciplined and I mean just to play hard. We had the group that finished the game out there and we were just playing hard. We weren’t the most talented group or anything like that, but we continued to fight and fight and you see you chip away at the lead a little bit and if we did that in the second and third quarter, it probably would’ve been in a different scenario. Playing hard, fight for 48 minutes.”
Coach Nick Nurse threw rookie Ricky Council IV along with two-way player Jeff Dowtin Jr. out there with Oubre, KJ Martin and Mo Bamba to start the fourth quarter. The Sixers staged a good run to cut the deficit to 11, but it wasn’t enough to make up for a slow start.
“We were just playing free,” Oubre finished. “Those guys didn’t have a lot of pressure on them. we just played free, played together. We got some stops and guys were making shots. It’s not rocket science. We all go out there and play together and flow and good things happen.”
The Sixers look to bounce back on Friday when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers.
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