The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday looking to start this 4-game West Coast trip off on the right foot. The Sixers entered still undermanned without Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton, and Robert Covington. Without those four, it’s tough to overcome the likes of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal on the road.
The Sixers jumped out to a good start as they led 9-1 to start the night, and they kept Beal in check, but the Suns then kicked it into high gear as they got hot from deep and dominated the glass. The result was a 115-102 victory for Phoenix led by Booker with 18 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds. Grayson Allen had 32 points as well for the Suns while Kevin Durant had 22 points to pass the great Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time scoring list.
The Sixers had a tough night as Tyrese Maxey only had six points on 3-for-13 shooting with seven assists, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 18 points and two blocks, and Cam Payne had 12 points off the bench. Mo Bamba added nine and five boards while KJ Martin added 11 and 11 rebounds. Jeff Dowtin Jr. had 12 points and four assists in the fourth while Ricky Council IV added 10 points.
Here are the player grades following the loss:
This is a tough matchup for Lowry. The Suns run Beal and Booker at the point guard spot and they have the size advantage on the veteran guard. However, Lowry deserves a lot of credit for showing a lot of fight on the defensive end. On offense, he wasn’t able to knock down many looks, but he was able to make plays with his passing and get the Sixers organized on the offensive end. Philadelphia got a lot of really good looks in this one. They just weren’t able to convert.
The All-Star guard was able to get some really good looks on the offensive end to start his night, but had a tough time converting on them. He was getting to the basket, but wasn’t able to finish over the taller Suns defenders. He also was able to shake himself free for some open looks from the perimeter, but also had a tough time with those open looks as well. While he wasn’t able to get going with his scoring, Maxey was at least doing a good job making plays for others. He was able to get conjure up some assists and get guys involved. Overall, he needed to have a big night for Philadelphia to have a chance. It was just a tough one for him.
The aggressiveness from Oubre was welcomed in this one. He has continued to put his head down and get to the basket which is a huge part of his game. He is much better when he is attacking the basket rather than settling for jumpers. He also had an impressive rejection at the rim showing off his defensive ability to set the tone for the Sixers. Philadelphia really played terrific defense all night, but they couldn’t finish the possession with the rebound as the Suns got their second chance points.
Batum made some really big plays on defense. He was in the right spots on that end of the floor and showed some really good anticipation to come up with steals and blocks. On the offensive end, he did a god job of moving without the ball. He relocated to the corner for an open triple and he cut well off the ball for an easy layup.
The game started off with Bamba throwing down a lob on the offensive end and giving Philadelphia a nice start on offense. He added another dunk and drilled a triple later in the game. However, he had a lot of trouble with Suns big man Jusuf Nurkic as Phoenix set the tone early on the glass. He had a tough time rebounding the ball which allowed the Suns to control the game all night.
Once again, Payne hopped off the bench and gave Philadelphia a spark offensively. His ability to put the ball in the basket since being acquired at the deadline has been such a helpful boost for the Sixers. His scoring punch in the first half kept the scoreboard moving for the Sixers while the Suns went on their run. It was just a tough night defensively for him.
It was another tough night for Hield. He had a lot of good, open looks from deep, but wasn’t able to convert in the early going. He also seemed to be out of place on the defensive end as the Suns were able to go on a run with open looks from the perimeter. He has got to be better with his 3-point shooting. Slumps happen and it’s the nature of an 82-game season, but the Sixers need to get him going again.
With the Suns dominating the glass and being the more physical bunch, Martin received an early call to give a boost in that area of the game. He helped put a body on Nurkic and give Philadelphia a boost with his toughness and athleticism. He rebounded well and finished at the basket in this one. The Sixers will take that type of effort from him.
The big man didn’t get the benefit of the whistle in his initial stint. He gave an honest effort on the glass and was playing with energy, but he was called for a questionable loose ball foul. He was able to get an impressive block on Drew Eubanks, though, as he used good basketball IQ to stay with it and not fall for the fake. Overall, the big man wasn’t able to do much in terms of productivity, but the energy was there for this group.
With the result already decided, Council IV received some run in the fourth quarter. He did some nice things on both ends of the floor and really showed off his athleticism. The undrafted rookie is going to have a bright future in this league as long as he continues to work as hard as he has thus far. He has a lot of physical tools and a clear understanding of how to play the game.