The (2-3) Phoenix Suns were on the road against the the (4-1) Philadelphia 76ers. Bradley Beal missed his six consecutive game and Devin Booker was also not available on the back end of this back to back.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Suns’ head coach Frank Vogel made a big change by going with Keita Bates-Diop in the starting line-up. Bates-Diop got his first shot at real minutes against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. He scored 13 points in 18 minutes and had a plus/minus of +7. This clearly impressed Vogel and earned Bates-Diop the starting nod.
First Quarter
The first quarter started off well for the Suns as they took an early 12-9 lead with eight minutes left in the quarter. This was short lived as the 76ers took the lead 15-14 with six minutes left in the game.
Eric Gordon was huge to start the game for the Suns as he had seven of the first 14 points. Phoenix was 6/12 from the field in the first six minutes of the game. Kevin Durant did a great job of getting to the free throw line in the quarter. He went 4/5 from the line.
Flick of the wrist. pic.twitter.com/FlyP1TeMdS
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 4, 2023
The 76ers’ scoring was well balanced to start three separate players had four points and the leading scorer was Kelly Oubre Jr with five at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter.
Maxey in motion. 💨 pic.twitter.com/FzqKWFLlHn
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 4, 2023
Philadelphia started to create some separation in the quarter as they went on a run after the game was tied at 15. The 76ers were able to get up 22-17 before Jusuf Nurkic hit a three to close the lead to 22-20 with 2:50 left in the quarter.
Joel Embiid showed how insanely skilled he is by hitting a step back three to expand their lead to 25-20.
The Suns would close out the quarter on a 4-0 run. Philadelphia was up 25-24 at the end of the quarter.
The leading scorers were Kevin Durant with 8 and Joel Embiid with 9.
