First successful outing for the new look Suns. With Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic ejected from the starting five in favor of Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee, Phoenix returned to the path to victory Monday in Philadelphia (99-109), once again deprived of Joel Embiid. And Mike Budenholzer's coaching coup has, at least for this time, paid off.
The match started well for the Sixers. Or rather he hadn't really started for the Suns' starters, completely at a standstill. Philadelphia's defense was not completely unrelated, leaving the visitors with three points scored after five minutes of play. Guerschon Yabusele, replacing Joel Embiid at post 5, is well in his match and allows his team to lead 14-3 . The entries into play of Beal and Nurkic gave Phoenix a little oxygen, but this first quarter remained very sluggish on both sides.
Short in rotation with the absences of Embiid but also of Andre Drummond, Kyle Lowry, KJ Martin and Jared McCain, the locals ran out of steam and missed several open shots, the Suns took the opportunity to catch up despite a 1/12 cumulative for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Tyus Jones in the first quarter. It's barely better in the second, with Booker totally out of control, and the spark comes from the Phoenix bench, who plays eye to eye with Phily. Oso Ighodaro, Josh Okogie and Ryan Dunn lead a 9-1 run to put the Suns back within one possession. Yabusele and Kelly Oubre are holding the house, but the balance already seems very fragile for the Sixers, leading 46-42 at halftime.
Two series and the Suns turn everything around
On borrowed time, Philadelphia ends up diving. Dunn launches the rebellion, Durant follows suit, before the Bradley Beal show begins. The rear is untenable with 14 points in six minutes and the match changes with a 25-6 in favor of the visitors, now in control with 12 points in advance. The Tyrese Maxey – Kelly Oubre tandem struggles to limit the damage, and Oubre scores at the buzzer in the third act to reduce the gap to five lengths. Then Maxey also from a distance puts the premises back in possession.
But the Sixers' defense is still faltering, while the Suns remain confident. And it's once again a hybrid five with Beal at the spearhead, well surrounded by Dunn, Ighodaro or Monte Morris that Phoenix widens the gap with a new run, a fatal 14-1 at the start of the last quarter. The last stand of Tyrese Maxey, author of 16 of Philadelphia's 26 points over the period, does not change anything, especially as Phoenix applies itself until the end with a final impeccable act collectively (12 successful shots, 12 assists) to win.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– The electroshock worked for the Suns. It's still far too early to draw conclusions, but this Phoenix team showed a better face, more balanced with the new rotations imposed by Mike Budenholzer. The prize goes to the tandem Ryan Dunn (15 points at 3/6 at 3-points) – Bradley Beal (25 points, 5 assists in 30 minutes) each proving in their new role. With 32 assists, the Suns finished with their third best collective performance of the season.
– Paul George gets through it. The long list of forfeits left little room for error for Nick Nurse's team. The game without George's attack was paid for in cash. The winger finished at 5/18 shooting, with misses in well-defined positions. His solid defense on Kevin Durant is not enough when Embiid is absent, and Philadelphia will have a hard time getting by with the former Clipper as the fourth scorer on this kind of evening. Especially since the bench contributed absolutely nothing with seven tiny points, compared to 54 for the visitors.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
