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Phoenix Suns

Kevin Durant’s 31 Points Not Enough as Suns lose to 76ers, 112-100

The Phoenix Suns were on the road against the the Philadelphia 76ers. Bradley Beal missed his sixth consecutive game and Devin Booker was also not available on the front end of this back to back.

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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.

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.

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.

Second Quarter

The 76ers came out strong to start the second quarter on a 6-0 run to expand the lead to 31-24.

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.

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.

Third Quarter

Drew Eubanks started the second half in place of Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic struggled in the first half going 3/10 from the floor, scoring seven points.

This change did not make a difference to start the quarter as the 76ers expanded their lead to 12 points. Philadelphia was up 63-51 with just over nine minutes left in the quarter.

Joel Embiid was aggressive to start the quarter as he had 10 points in the open minutes of the third. The 76ers would continue to play well and hold to the lead.

This was until the Suns made a run of their own closing the lead to five. Philadelphia was up 74-69 with three minutes left in the quarter.

The Suns would continue to play well to close the quarter and got the 76ers lead down to two before Joel Embiid hit a three to close the quarter. The 76ers were up 80-75 at the end of the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter started off with both teams scoring buckets. The 76ers were up 88-80 with 9:19 left in the game.

Philadelphia would continue to expand their lead behind the play of Tobias Harris. They were up 92-82 with eight minutes left in the game.

76ers center Paul Reed went for a steal and fouled Kevin Durant which put the Suns in the bonus with 7:15 left in the game.Philadelphia would continue to expand the lead after that foul. 76ers were up 101-86 with six minutes left in the game.

The 76ers would continue to hold on to their big lead. Suns found themselves down 106-91 with 3:30 left in the game. The Suns would not be able to cut into the lead. The 76ers won the game 112-100.

Philadelphia improved their record to 4-1 while the Suns fell to 2-4 after their third loss in a row.

Players of the Game

Joel Embiid was dominant in this one. He scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Embiid shot 9/18 from the floor and 3/3 from three point range. The second leading scorer for Philadelphia was Kelly Oubre Jr who finished with 25 points.

Kevin Durant did everything he could in the losing effort. He finished the game with 31 points and seven rebounds.

Key Stats of the Game

The Suns did not shoot the ball well as they shot 36% from the floor and 25% from three. The 76ers shot 47% from the floor and 36% from three.

Up Next

The Suns turn right around and play against the Detroit Pistons in Detroit on Sunday, November 5th. Philadelphia will be at home against the Washington Wizards on Monday, November 6th.

 

 

 

 

 

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