76ers InsidersRadio Rewind 34/82: Sixers vs. Phoenix Suns Rematch Recap
Hear Nick Nurse's postgame press conference (9:20) and the game recap, as the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Phoenix Suns on Monday. Plus stats, analysis, and audio highlights with Tom McGinnis and Matt Murphy.
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Sixers with home games Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week after a six game road trip in totality that began on the NBA on Christmas Day with the big win over Boston and then they went to Utah and out West and returned to play Phoenix. But the Suns with a ten point win in Philadelphia tonight, one oh nine ninety nine. This is our Parks Casino postgame show on Matt Murphy. I'll be rejoined in a moment by Tom McGinnis. We will also hope to hear Nick Nurse's postgame media availability. After this loss to Phoenix, who snaps a four game losing streak, they made a big lineup move, couple changes to the starting lineup, but bringing Bradley Beal off the bench certainly paid off a team high twenty five points twenty in a second half that they outscored the Sixers sixty seven to fifty three in for the one zho nine ninety nine rears old and behind Bal, the Suns bench outscored the Sixers bench as their Sixers roster was shorthanded tonight. To say the least, headlined by no Joel Embiid. The bench scoring was fifty four to seven Suns. Five players out for the Sixers, including Embiid. Andre Drummond was a late scratch as well. So Yabusele had this start as the small ball center. It was their twenty first different starting lineup of the season, which does lead the NBA. So all the starters played heavy minutes. The only bench scorers were a dem Bona with four and Justin Edwards with three. So Beal shoots ten for fifteen, the Sun shoot fifty one percent. Durant had a good game twenty three points on nine of fourteen, and the Sixers only shot thirty nine percent in this game. They also missed ten free throws sixteen of twenty six and they lose the game by ten. They will have the two teams with the worst records in the league coming in next We will get there later in our post game show. It'll be the Wizards, the worst in the East, on Wednesday night, and then the New Orleans Pelicans, who have been battling injuries all season, notably Zion Williamson's not playing right now. They'll be here on Friday night. But Tom mcguinnis the first home game back in two weeks, and it's Phoenix with a one ZHO nine ninety nine win. Kelly Oubre Junior had a great game and his return to the Sixers lineup twenty six points and eleven rebounds. But let's let's start with Phoenix quickly. I mean the move to put Beale on the bench, I mean it looks like a good one so far because they came in kind of the reports were saying that there was some uncertainty around their group, and he delivered in a big way and that role really embraced it as a pro.
Yeah, he's a really good player, and even Nurkic I thought made an impact. He was the other player that was shall we say, sent to the bench. And again he'd been out for three games, so that's not a complete shocker, but you know, coach Budden needed to do something. They lost four games in a row. They considered it wasn't just a one time thing. And Beal came in. You figured he was going to be you know, not what they have four points in the last game, but he was ten of fifteen. It was Booker, you know, that struggled. Booker was just three of sixteen, three of eighteen in the first match, but he helped in other ways with tennis sists, and they just Durant came in with a knockout punch down the stretch. You know. It is a little bit about Phoenix, no doubt, but it's the Sixers just didn't again, they did not have the energy or the bodies, and it showed right they were under man Kelly Oubre who didn't play over the last week. I mean the last time he played was last Monday, and he really came out with a lot of fight. He ended up with thirteen eight in the first, thirteen in the third, twenty five total. But the Sixers, you know, when they had that early twelve point lead, you felt like it could have been a little bit more. Not that they would have knocked him out at the beginning of the game, but they could have had a little bit better separation. But they just couldn't maintain with the shooting consistency. They ended up shooting thirty nine percent and it dissipated went down as the game went along.
Right, and the Suns did come out flat. I kind of made it seem like it was an instant success thing. With the lineup changes, but it was seventeen to five the start for the Sixers right in this game, the final score ends up being the Suns one oh nine the Sixers ninety nine. Matt Murphy and Tom McGuinness here on our Parks Casino postgame show, and Embiid was scratched. He was questionable. The listing has been left foot sprain and the right sinus fracture. They also they add in on the injury reports. The official reports mask that that he has continued to wear the mask when he's playing. Kyle Lowry was unavailable, among many others. Andre Drummond though might might have been the latest scratch of them all. So they didn't have the morning shoot round, They had the pregame walk through a couple of hours hours before, and then no Drummond either, which Yabusel had a great first half. But there's been a couple of games like this where there's no true center, and and this was another one tonight. How do you think that impacted things?
Well, like Mason Plumbley started its center for them, so like he he can certainly guard. He's a great screen setter, but you know it's not like you need Wenby to guard him, right, I mean he's not he's not going to really challenge you, but just missing one of your one of your better players at Andre Drummond. And for drum like you say, he went through the walkthrough, but when you have a toe injury like that, I don't know what happened, but you know, like he might have tweaked it. But the slightest thing can set you back, like that's you know, that's everything when you take, when you stop and sprint that that can be really problematic. So I can imagine where you know, they're gonna be a little cautious with that if he has any discomfort. But that, yeah, that was a shock. I think it sounds like coach nurses addressing the media.
A ton and then you know, then they you know, he just got going with some sideline throw ahead step up action. He was getting getting around the bend a little too fast on us. But I think we lost a little a little bit of our our spark and I you know, just based on on how poorly we were shooting the ball, because it was like we were getting we were getting, but I thought were really really good shots. You know, for most of that game, I think our energy and everything was great to start. Our defense everything was really good, but the offense just wasn't wasn't well, the shooting wasn't probably where it needed to be compared to how we were playing, what we were generating, and what we were doing defensively, and it ended up just kind of catching up to us. I think as far as the fact thing our spirit and our energy.
Oh, the decentelget and the paint early on, then a lot of the game was tim settling from testing long tos or threes as what you as offensive process.
Yeah, listen, I think I think he's in there with a lot of the guys tonight as far as is generating you know, good shots and shots that we want them to take, and for whatever reason, you know, they just they just weren't going in tonight. So I think I think you can throw the whole team in thirty eight percent from the field, isn't gonna isn't gonna win you many games, and then throw in another ten miss free throws and you're in trouble. Anytime you miss ten, usually are on the wrong side of the score.
Usually, like conventional wisdom, NBA Wise says the first home game after.
A long road trip is always really tough.
Yep.
Yeah, And I mean we talked before the game about some of the stuff we try to do different bat that with was tired legs or anything.
Did you see any of them? Yeah, I mean I think I think that's always it is always tough, you know, and you you like, I try not to talk about it. I just tried to bring a ton of energy. And I thought I thought we were we were super. I thought we were we were awesome start, you know, start the game, even even to start the second half. I mean they took the first time out out of the half. But again I think I think just a little bit of combination, that little bit of combination of of of just you know, when the ball you know, continually you're shooting wide open shots and continually doesn't go in it, it seems to, you know, affect other parts of the game.
Yeah. Nick, to the point about Paul's off as a process, he's way below his career numbers shooting wise. Obviously, what do you think is the the main cause of that? Right, because we're past the point of you know, small sample or whatever, where he's played over a quarter of seasons worth of games, and we really haven't had the Paul Georgier expecting.
Yeah, just just from a shooting standpoint again, and I think that you know, they weren't all like super open tonight, but a lot of them were and a lot of them were ones that, like you said, career wise, he's gonna take normally take again, you know, say that his presence out there is really good, his defense is really good, his rebounding is really good. You know, there's a lot of things to like. And I just think the shooting, the shooting will get to his career numbers, you know, as we go here, you know, maybe you know, again, we try to do some different things. We posted him a couple of times tonight, We ran some pin downs for him a couple of times tonight, you know, a few other things. You know, we are doing a variety of things. And again, once he got there, eighteen shots, you know, I probably like thirteen or fourteen of them, you know, kind kind of what it's been twelve to fifteen and shots that I probably wouldn't trade in.
You like, what do you kind of say to him? Like, I guess that what kind of do maybe.
Yeah, I mean it talk to him a little bit just to always ask, you know, what can what can we do to help you? You know, what can we do to to get you going? Do you think the looks are good enough? Is there any other actions we can we can try to do?
You know?
And we've had some of those conversations as well, and you know, he just kind of says, no, we're all right, but I'm gonna look at these tonight for sure and sit down with them tomorrow and see what we can figure out. All right, Thanks everybody?
Yep.
Coach Nick Nurse here on the seventy six Ers post game show presented by Parks Casino. It's the Phoenix Suns one oh nine, the Sixers ninety nine in Philadelphia and Tom that the question there towards the end from Gina Mizela that the Inquirer about the road the first home game back from a long road trip being tough. Why is that? Why have you noticed that over the years?
Well, I just said that, Well, again, your sleep has been totally you know, there's that jetlag thing is real and when you go back and Coach Nurse mentioned this pregame but twice on the trip getting into Portland and one of the other stops all. I can't remember which it wasn't the Warriors, because the Warriors, they were in San Francisco by midnight. But twice the six Ers, you know, went to bed at three three thirty Pacific time. That's six o'clock. You're still your body clock is still on East Coast time. Well into that trip. It isn't until the very end where you kind of adjust to West Coast time and then guess what, then you're back here. So I think that's it, you know what I mean, Like the sleep deprivation is real. It's totally you know, it's messing. So it's it's just difficult, you know what I mean. Like and you can like that's why I like rest and hydration. There's such an emphasis on that in pro sports period. It's a real thing. And then they come home and your family's waiting for you. These guys got lives outside basketball, and you know it was evident like in the play like it, like I said it kind of the Sixers energy. Wane coach was talking about that. Almost everything we talked about prior with miss Mozelle spoke of. We just I just said, yeah, what coach said about missing shots early? They played really well. But it's a lot of factors. Yeah, went it went down as it went. The fact, as you mentioned, they were missing a number of players.
Five players out and then six if you count two way player Pete Nance. But that meant that the whole starting lineup played more than thirty six minutes max. He played almost forty four right.
In this game. Even tyrese like some of those shots, and he made some shots late. He did have sixteen in the fourth quarter, right, that's uh, And that's because he's he's in fantastic shape and he's not He's just going to keep coming at it. But yeah, like you know, when you're shooting, you know, like anybody that's played, like you realize your legs are such a huge part of it. It's almost like a starting pitcher if you don't have your legs. That's why baseball pitchers run. They run like they're in their off days. They they go distance. That's why you need your legs. And you know, that's the slightest when you're when you're a little weary, oftentimes that's part of it, and you're missing shots by just a little bit. But it adds up.
So the next two opponents just Washington six and twenty seven New Orleans on Friday is seven of twenty nine. They just played each other twice, so that that has to help the scouting process this week for the Sixers. Their next two opponents New Orleans won both of those games, but it will be Washington first.
Yeah, and they and the Whist they play tomorrow against Houston. They're you know, a prohibitive underdog in that game, and you got, yeah, you gotta hope Joelle is able to go. And you know, for the Sixers, it's it's it's no doubt about you know, like tonight you felt like this coming in was a winnable game. Phoenix is struggling, but like overall for the Sixers to have the health, to have the continuity and to get going here, like you've got a huge month of home games, a lot and you want to get into a groove. So okay, we're playing home games, but we're winning. Let's go oh. I know Coach Nurse has talked about that over the years, like when you're rolling, you want to play and most definitely you want to play here and use this home court advantage, you know, to your best, you know, to your best advantage. So yeah, this this is a tough one. But you know, here you go, like you say, you got two games coming in, you got an Orlando team on the road, you've played well, you've beaten them.
After that, a bunch of big name opponents too. The back half of January is a very tough schedule, some of them at home, but got to take care of business the rest of this wait.
The Knicks, the Calves, the Wars, thunder Right.
Gets a couple of times. So yeah, it's a tough back half of January. But we'll be back on Wednesday. But thank you Tom, I'll be back with more on our post game here in the next second. Tom mcguinnis, I'm getting comfortable up here postgame. Thanks to Tom for joining me here on the Parks Casino postgame show after the one oh nine ninety nine loss for the Sixers to the Suns. The records are now Philadelphia fourteen and twenty, Phoenix sixteen and eighteen. We will have our game high leaders on the box score. We will have our stat of the game, the audio highlights still to come, so plenty coming up from Philadelphia here postgame, and we'll be right back on the seventy six Ers Postgame Show, which is of course presented by Parks Casino.
Thank you were listening to the Sixers Radio Network presented by Jackpot City Casino.
Sixers off a six game road trip in which they went four and two that ended in Brooklyn on Saturday with a near thirty point win their home for three straight games this week, five of their next six, but they were without Joel Embiid tonight against the Phoenix Suns in their first home game back. It was exactly two weeks to the date since they beat the San Antonio Spurs here on December twenty third, so Embiid joined a long list of inactives five regular players for the Sixers out tonight against Phoenix. Matt Murphy here with our Parks Casino postgame show, and in this segment, we're going to jump right into our audio highlights of how this game went down from start to finish. Here is how it sounded, as called by Tom McGinnis. The seventy six Ers and the Suns in Philadelphia. The Sixers in the white Spectrum uniforms the City Edition uniforms presented by Crypto dot Com on a spirit of seventy six night presented by Crypto dot Com, the Suns were in purple. The inactive list no longer included Kelly Oubre Junior, who rejoined the lineup, but among joining embiid it was Joel unbeat out with a left foot sprain. He's also listed with the right sinus fracture from the Indiana game, but Kyle Lowry out tonight hip injury. Andre Drummond was a last minute scratch for the toe sprain that he's been in and out of the lineup seemingly every other game at this point, as well as Jared McCain and kJ Martin who remain out. So the Sixers started their twenty first different starting lineup, the most in the NBA this year, Maxie Ubra, Paul George, Caleb Martin, and Gershan Yabucele. Philadelphia Eagles rookie Cooper dejen was the bell ringer and the Sixers going up against the Suns team that bench Bradley Beal in his fifty million dollar contract. They started the game ten to three to force a timeout, and later in the first they would stretch it to their largest lead, with Tyrese Maxi teeing up another early three for an even bigger first quarter lead.
Fourteen to five, sixers, Martin to Maxi. Maxie's got a three. He's got one on one coverage with Jones, he said. Jabu packing rises deep three up and good. What a shot by Maxi. Prinks Rain with a deep three at Maxi like Oubre was six.
Seventeen to five the game after Durant made the first basket of the game of three seventeen to two sixers run Tyrese Maxi second three of the game. He would end the game with six of his fourteen made from beyond the arc, so to go up seventeen to five, and then first quarter leading twenty one to thirteen. Paul George defense leads the offense the steal and.
The slam boris covered well. Nurkicchigainst A den Bona back out top George with a steal, breakaway peg doblay oh baby right hand jam right down Broad Street, the pick, the runout and the jam. Paul George with his second field goal. Sons with the turn sixes by ten.
Paul George thirteen points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals, almost thirty eight minutes of work five for eighteen from the field, shooting the ball three for nine from three. That in a twenty three to thirteen game that they were leading. It was twenty three sixteen after the first quarter in favor of the sixth second quarter. Kevin Durant led the Sons in the first half with with seven points, but it was Gershon Yabusele, who started at the five for the Sixers with who led all scorers in the first half with twelve points, including three threes.
Georgia Yabaseile Yabasley with another try for three, and it's in Gershaan Yaba Sile has attempted six threes. Yabu scores again. He's got three may threes. That's what's important. Five points, six is leep.
All of those were in the first half. It was forty one thirty six Sixers. He had twelve of his fourteen points in the game in the first two quarters. He was three for eight all told from three in thirty six minutes. He did have a double double with ten rebounds to go with the fourteen points. And how did it get close after the double digit six Ers lead, Well, there was a stretch in the second quarter where the Sixers missed seventeen of twenty field goals. Neither team shot it well thirty eight percent per side in the in the first half. Ubre almost had a first half double double ten and eight. Well here for him in the third quarter. Here Booker shot one of ten in the first half, three of sixteen in the game. He did have a double double with ten points and ten assists for Phoenix, so they closed the gap. It was fifty six fifty two six ers at halftime behind Yabuseles twelve points and then into the third quarter. You heard Nick Nurse talk about the start to the third forcing the first time out. But Bradley Beal did the majority of his damage off the bench in this game in the second half, and here in the third going for double figures scoring and Phoenix's largest lead at the time.
Here's Beale in the corner for three and good he ran to with a spot. He's much too good. Field knocks down a three credit Booker with the dish. Booker's got seven assists, and now the Suns are up by.
Eight sixty two to fifty four. They would go up by twelve. Beal had twenty of his game, his team high twenty five in the second half. Twenty five points on ten of fifteen, shooting three for six from three in less than thirty minutes as a reserve for this Phoenix Suns team, so sixty two fifty four after that three he averages just under eighteen points per game. But he's now coming off the bench to shake things up for Mike Budenholzer's Phoenix Sons. And then a sequence that involved him to end the third quarter. First Kelly Ubray picked up a double double endcounting he went right at Nurkic and got an and one, one of a couple end ones for him in the game. Then a Caleb Martin long two for the Sixers, all in a single digit game here at the end of the third with the Sixers trailing by a couple points. But then it was Bil and Ubra exchanging the final buckets of the quarter. So Bradley Beal a quick layup racing down the court, but Ubre had the final answer from three.
Beil on a catch on a trive in On Edwards all the way down the court and in that took three seconds. Six is with Maxi three seconds. The third Maxi double covered toy Ubra. Will he get it off into the air for three. He's God, hey man it pree at the third quarter buzzer Tella Ubra put a fantastic third quarter at a to five point game.
Ubra had thirteen of his twenty six points in the third quarter. He shot nine for eighteen from the field double double. He would tack on three more rebounds in the second half, so twenty six points eleven rebounds for Ubre in his first game after missing the last three games of the road trip with a hand injury. The five point margin was Phoenix seventy eight Philadelphia seventy three. Heading to the fourth quarter and a quarter in which the Sixers got back to back Maxi threes trying to stay in it. They got an early three from Maxi to cut it to two, but then the Suns were piling on baskets at Bradley beal Banks shot put them up twelve. But Maxi, he did have threes on consecutive possessions after that, and as he tried to help the Sixers stay in it. And what was the sixteen point fourth quarter for Tyrese Maxi.
Caleb Martin in the corner. Five minutes gone by Martin along the baseline to the near corner back to Maxie. Maxi floats it up and goes back to back freeze Mike Tyrese Maxi. He's got five breeze for the Sixers twenty four points and Sixers down.
Eleven ninety four to eighty three Phoenix at the time. Maxie ends up shooting eleven for twenty five overall, six for fourteen from three three for five at the line. The team missed ten free throws sixteen of twenty six. Thirty one points were a game high, sixteen of those in the fourth as mentioned with ten assists, so a thirty one point ten assists double double for Tyrese Maxie, who did not record a rebound in forty three minutes and fifty four seconds of action, which was the most for any player in this game, down ninety four eighty three. Kevin Durant had some clutch buckets in this one. He ends up going for more than twenty points and a couple of times he found himself in the corner. One was a contested two and then a three ball for a fourteen point Phoenix lead.
Six is shooting thirty nine percent head again there, energy's kind of dissipated as the game has gone along. Here's Durant for the knockout punch and it's good. Three point corner shot. Got it five in a row by KD. He's got twenty. They're up fourteen, three minutes to go, time out, Philadelphia Phoenix, one oh four, the Sixers ninety.
Durant scored sixteen of his twenty three points in the second half. He put the Suns up one oh four to ninety. A Paul George six Ers three would cut it to eight with about ninety seconds left before Kevin Durant had a true dagger three, one of his three threes on four attempts. He had twenty three points, six rebounds, and five assists, and the Suns win one oh nine ninety nine. They are sixteen in eighteen and the Sixers are fourteen and twenty. We just hit the top of the hour here in our Parks Casino postgame show, so we will pause ten seconds for station identification. Here on the Sixers radio network.
This is Sixers Basketball and on the Fanatic and Burlington Philadelphia of Beastly Media Group station.
On the other side, we will do a final box score breakdown, touch on anything we missed. Do our stat of the game and say good night, but the final score Phoenix one oh nine, six Ers ninety nine. More to come, including a Chick fil A Brickin' for Chicken announcement and the details on that when we come back. This is the seventy six Ers Parks Casino postgame show.
You are listening to the Sixers Radio Network presented by Jackpots City Casino.
Reminder fans, it's Bricking for Chicken time courtesy of Chick fil A and tonight in the third quarter courtesy of Phoenix's Devin Booker with two miss free throws, so that means free Chick fil A Nuggets. Make sure to download and open the Chick fil A app by ten thirty am tomorrow to claim your free five count Chick fil A Nuggets. Redeem the reward by scanning the Chick fil A App or by placing a mobile order within three days of the game. Thanks to Chick fil A. The Phoenix Suns one oh nine the Philadelphia seventy six Ers ninety nine. Here in Philadelphia, Sixers played without Joel Embiid, among others, Andre Drummond, Kyle Lowry, Jerry McCain, kJ Martin all Out, Kelly Ubre Junior was back and scored twenty six points plus eleven rebounds, but the Sixers bench was out scored heavily. Maxi ends up going for a game high thirty one points. Uber's eleven rebounds a game high. Yabusele had a double double with fourteen to ten in the starting lineup as the five. Paul George had nine rebounds with his thirteen points. Sixers did out rebound Phoenix forty six forty four. Devin Booker's ten assists were the most for Anny player. He had a double double with ten points despite missing thirteen of his sixteen shots, one for five from three, and he missed three free throws, including the two that led to the successful brickin for Chicken. Kevin Durant had twenty three, second to Bradley Beal's twenty five points for Phoenix, twenty of those in the second half. Durant had sixteen of his twenty three after halftime, and the Suns outscored the Sixers sixty seven fifty three in the second half for this ten point win. Matt Murphy here wrapping up our Parks Casino postgame show. Team shooting wise, it was fifty one percent for Phoenix thirty nine for the Sixers. Sixers took ten more threes and went fifteen forty. Phoenix was fourteen for thirty, which is forty seven percent. They missed six free throws thirteen of nineteen. The Sixers missed ten and a ten point lost sixteen of twenty six, which is sixty one and a half percent from the free throw line. And they will be home again Wednesday against Washington. They'll be home Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. So trying to get back on track. But Embiid missed tonight's game left foot sprain, right sinus fracture listing with the mask listing as well, but that is something that Nick Nurse said before the game is day to day for Joel Embiid. That bench total ends up being fifty four to seven suns, which is our stat of the game, led by Beals twenty five points, and he was coming off the bench in a move they made for this game, having lost four consecutive games, had the front end of the league. NBA TV doubleheader in Miami at Sacramento is the next one and the only other game other There's a couple other games going, but the Clippers are in a close game with the Timberwolves, ninety two to ninety one. They lead in Kawhi Leonards' second game back. He's three for eleven from the floor in twenty one minutes, eight points for him, but twenty for Harden, twenty for Norman Powell, and they've gone up ninety three to ninety one as we speak, but part of a nine game NBA slate in which the Suns beat the Sixers as part of it, by a final score of one oh nine ninety nine. This has been our seventy six Ers post game show, presented by Parks Casino, thanks to our engineer Marty Dickerson, and our producers Matt Manrick and Sean Rodman, and of course Tom McGinnis on the call that next Sixers game Wednesday night at home again a seven pm Eastern start against the Wizards, and our coverage here on the Sixers Radio Network presented by Jackpot City Casino. We'll begin at six point fifty Eastern. Until then, I'm Matt Murphy saying so long from the center, Thank you for listening, and take care
