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.
Swish 🎯 https://t.co/3k6ZzvRSSG pic.twitter.com/mTtDpSnY0r
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 4, 2023
The leading scorers were Kevin Durant with 8 and Joel Embiid with 9.
Second Quarter
The 76ers came out strong to start the second quarter on a 6-0 run to expand the lead to 31-24.
tough tyrese. 💪 pic.twitter.com/NQeWkI0R3e
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 4, 2023
The Suns would respond by closing the gap to 34-31 with seven minutes left in the quarter behind the play of Drew Eubanks and Grayson Allen. Phoenix and Philadelphia would continue to exchange baskets for the next few minutes.
Eric Gordon ➡️ Drew Eubanks #ComingInHot
pic.twitter.com/N2yvKCuI9F— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 4, 2023
The 76ers would go on another run over the next few minutes expanding their lead to 43-33 with 4:45 left in the quarter.
Kevin Durant would hit a three to bring the deficit down to single digits. Then there was a technical foul called and Durant hit the free throw to cut the lead down to 43-37. Nurkic missed a series of shots at the rim and this was followed by him getting caught by a Joel Embiid elbow. The play was reviewed for a flagrant foul. The stoppage happened at the 3:45 mark of the second quarter.
The foul was ruled a flagrant foul level one. Nurkic missed both free throws. The teams would exchange buckets down the stretch of the quarter. Philadelphia led at halftime 52-45.
Players of the Half
Kelly Oubre Jr was huge for the 76ers. He had 17 points on 7/10 shooting from the floor. Kevin Durant was the leading scorer for Phoenix with 14 points on 4/9 shooting from the floor.
Key Stats of the Half
The Suns did not shoot the ball well at all in the half. Phoenix shot 33% from the floor and 25% from three. Philadelphia shot 44% from the floor and 33% from three. The 76ers also made 10/11 of their free throws.
Philadelphia turned the ball over 12 times but Phoenix was not able to take advantage of their looseness with the ball.
