1/3/13
The 76ers have been on the road for the past 10 days and
their next stop was in Phoenix, Arizona to take on the Suns. The 76ers were
coming off an emotional win against the Los Angeles Lakers the previous night.
Would the 76ers play well enough against the Suns or would they have a trap
game and lose? The Suns are known for their notoriously bad defense and high
scoring offense while the 76ers are the opposite of the Suns. The last time
these two teams met, the Suns had a different starting lineup compared to who
they started last night. Last night, the Suns started Marcin Gortat, Luis
Scola, P.J. Tucker, Goran Dragic, and Jared Dudley. When the two teams last
played each other, the Suns started Dragic and Gortat, but started Markieff
Morris, Shannon Brown, and Michael Beasley. Could the different lineup the Suns
threw out make a difference?
The first half was a close one. It was a neck and neck game
and it was sloppy. It was uncharacteristic for the 76ers to have seven
turnovers at the end of this half because they preach how important it is to
NOT turn the ball over. Some of the shots the 76ers were taking were in bad
form. They had no arc on their shots and they kept falling flat like they were
line drive shots. Also, the 76ers were not cutting hard to the basket when they
were setting their picks and rolling to the basket. One guy that was a prime
example of that was Spencer Hawes. When he set picks for Jrue Holiday, he would
not roll to the basket to get an easy shot. Instead, he would roll to a spot
where the free throw circle is and settle for a jump shot that fell flat. The
Suns played similar to what the 76ers were doing. They were settling for jump
shots and not getting to the free throw line. The 76ers were leading at
halftime by a score of 49-48. Gortat led the Suns with 11 points in the half.
He was silent for the entire second half. Thaddeus Young led the 76ers with 12
points.
The second half looked different. The Suns looked energized
and kicked it up to another gear while the 76ers looked tired and wanted this
game to get over quickly. The Suns were playing tough defense, something they
rarely do. Luis Scola was on fire this half scoring 19 of his 21 points.
Holiday was going back to his turnover prone ways this game like he started out
in the beginning of the season. He had some critical turnovers in this half
that could have gone differently had he made better decisions with the
basketball. The Suns won the game by a final score of 95-89. It was surprising
that the score was not higher given the deficiencies the Suns have on defense.
Dragic had a good game and finished with 20 points. Brown was a lightning rod
off the bench scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Tucker had a nice
game collecting 10 points. Gortat finished with a double-double scoring 11
points and snatching 14 rebounds. Holiday, albeit his six turnovers in the
game, he had a terrific game and recorded his second triple-double of his
career. He finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Thaddeus Young
quietly had a double-double in the game. He collected 14 points and 10
rebounds. Dorell Wright also scored 14 points. Evan Turner had a bad shooting
night although he did finish with 13 points. Nick Young shot well off the bench
and collected 12 points. Lavoy Allen finished with 10 points.
Overall, the 76ers need to focus on the next game. They have
a couple of tough games ahead of them and can’t play like they played against
the Suns. Holiday needs to take better care of the basketball. He can’t have
these five or six turnover games and expect to win. Turner and Hawes both were
not at their best and have to shoot better. They shot a combined 9-27 from the
floor. Jason Richardson has been non-existent. He’s in that bad of a shooting
slump and it’s tough for him to get out of this slump.
Due to playing two
games in two nights, should the 76ers have played their bench more minutes due
to how fatigued they looked on the floor? Sound off and stay tuned on Friday
when the 76ers travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.
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