Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Phoenix Suns, who were riding a two-game losing streak. The Sixers needed a win after a 126-86 blow-out loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
The Sixers stayed competitive with the Suns throughout the game but Phoenix’s three-point shooting was too much for the youngsters as they lost 116-92.
In the first quarter, the Sixers kept the game close thanks to the play of Luc Mbah a Moute and Henry Sims. Mbah a Moute led all starters in the opening quarter with 10 points and four rebounds. Sims, came off the bench and scored eight points.
On the other hand, the Suns got their scoring early and often from the three point line and that was true in the first quarter. Phoenix got 15 of their 34 first quarter points from three point range. Philly’s own Markieff Morris and Eric Bledsoe both knocked down a pair of three point buckets to get them 10 and 8 points respectively.
The Sixers shot 47.8 percent from the field to only put them down 34-29 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Sixers’ offense erupted as they shot 59.1 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from three point range. Tony Wroten, who played the entire second quarter led the charge for Philly as he scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and played very aggressive driving to the basket when having the chance.
Michael Carter-Williams also got into the scoring after having a quiet first quarter, he scored five points in the second and Sims scored four more points.
The Suns also got a spark plug off their bench in the second quarter and that was Gerald Green. Green scored 10 points and had the Sixer defenders jumping at his pump fakes, which led to points. Towards, the end of the first half, Carter-Williams knocked down a deep three to put the Sixers down 53-52.
Then after a reverse layup from Bledsoe to make the score 55-52, the Sixers went on a small thanks to the aggressive play from Wroten. Wroten scored the Sixers last five points to lead at the half 59-57.
At the end of the first half, the Sixers were dominating the Suns in points in the paints 32-14 and second chance points 10-4. But what kept Phoenix in the game was their three point shooting as were 8-of-17.
In the third quarter, the Suns opened up a 6-0 run in which Sixers head coach immediately called a timeout with 10:43 left. Brown was very animated on the bench as his team opened up the quarter playing lackadaisical defense.
After the timeout with Phoenix leading 65-59, the Sixers scored four straight points to make the score 65-63. To keep the Sixers at bay, Green scored six more points and Miles Plumlee off the bench scored four points. Markieff Morris was also getting hot in the third quarter scoring nine points.
The Sixers tried to make a furious comeback in third thanks to Robert Covington scoring seven points and knocking down a huge three pointer with 1:08 on the clock to cut Phoenix’s lead down to 80-77. Covington went to the line to end the quarter as the Sixers were only down 84-79 going into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Sixers ran out of gas. Carter-Williams only had two points in the quarter and Wroten tried to carry the load scoring eight points. The offense went cold shooting 31.6 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from three point range.
On the other hand, the Suns shot 50 percent from the field while their three guards Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, and Bledsoe took over. Phoenix’s three guards in the final quarter combined for 14 points. The Suns won the battle of points in the paint and fast break points to win 116-92.
Despite, the loss, Wroten and Sims had great games. Wroten had an efficient game with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Sims finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The Sixers are now 4-27 on the season and wrap up their west coast road trip tonight at 10:30 pm ET against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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