Embiid-less Sixers lay an egg at home against spiraling Suns

The Sixers’ offense was anemic all night without Joel Embiid as the reeling Suns came into South Philly and got a desperately needed win Monday.

If anyone has any ongoing building projects there are plenty of bricks at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers fell 109-99 to the Phoenix Suns Monday night thanks to a dismal offensive performance.

Tyrese Maxey got going late to lead all scorers with 31 points, shooting 11-of-25 from the floor. Kelly Oubre Jr. returned to the lineup and went for 26 points along with 11 rebounds.

Paul George struggled again, shooting 5-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-9 from three, he finished with 13 points.

In his first game coming off the bench, Bradley Beal led the Suns with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Kevin Durant finished with 23 going 9-of-14 from the floor.

Joel Embiid was ruled out pregame with a left foot sprain, as was Kyle Lowry with right hip soreness. Andre Drummond was also a late scratch with a left toe contusion.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• After Durant opened the game with a corner three, the Sixers quickly ripped off a 14-0 run, causing an early Phoenix timeout in the process. Back in the lineup after missing the last three games, Oubre had success attacking the paint early. He had a couple drives that led to baskets and an offensive rebound he was able to put back.

• The timeout did little to slow the Sixers’ offense as they made nine of their first 14 baskets of the game. Whether it was rolling or popping, Guerschon Yabusele’s movement opened up the paint quite a bit.
• Phoenix’s lineup change didn’t help much early as they shot 26% from the field in the quarter. Even without their rim protector, the Sixers’ defense was able to force them into a lot of contested jumpers (though the Suns take plenty of those on their own.) The Sixers’ lead was only seven after one though as they only scored two points in the final 3:35.

Second Quarter

• Justin Edwards remained in the rotation ahead of Ricky Council IV — he checked in at the start of the quarter — though Council came in not much longer. Despite not having Lowry, Nick Nurse also wanted to keep a two-guard lineup when subbing for Maxey, as Jeff Dowtin Jr. checked into the game along with Reggie Jackson.
• Edwards got ahold of a long offensive rebound and sunk the three when it was swung back to him for his first points of the night. He later tied up Devin Booker to force a jump ball. Adem Bona also had a solid first shift, highlighted by rolling dunk, then blocking a layup the next trip down the floor.

• As a unit though, the Sixers’ offense had lost the rhythm they had early. After that hot start they went on to miss 19 of their next 22 shots. They were moving the ball occasionally to get some open threes, but the looks they were getting from two were fairly low percentage, contested looks.
• Both offenses woke up a bit as the Sixers scored on three of their last four possessions of the half while the Suns scored on four of their last five. Durant got one last look as time was expiring, but couldn’t get the one-legged three to fall, giving the Sixers a four-point lead at the break.

Third Quarter

• Between Oubre picking up a technical foul and a quick Suns timeout, there was pretty much no pace to start the second half. The bricken’-for-chicken hit early thanks to Booker, one of the most unlikely candidates in recent memory. He came back down and hit a transition three, capping off a 10-0 run and prompting a Sixers timeout.
• Through the first half of the third, the Sixers had only scored eight points, and three of them came on a prayer that George was clearly just trying to draw a foul on. They couldn’t buy a basket from anywhere — they even missed five of their first six free throws from the quarter. If only that could give the fans chicken as well.
• The Suns weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders, but getting Beal going was enough to take a double-digit lead. He sprung free to go for 14 points in the quarter. Oubre started to bring the Sixers back by getting to the line on three consecutive possessions, two of those being and-1s. Maxey nearly let the quarter expire before finding Oubre for a deep three that beat the buzzer and closed the Suns’ lead to five.

Fourth Quarter

• Maxey opened the quarter with a stepback three, but it didn’t take long for Phoenix to grab the momentum back. George was really struggling again — he missed a three, got called for defensive three seconds in the lane, then turned the ball over trying to back down into traffic. Caleb Martin drove into a double team at halfcourt and got turned over as well, and Nurse had to call another quick timeout.
• It wasn’t the best night either for Maxey, but he started to come alive a bit in the fourth. His threes started to fall, and his drives to the basket were more under control. The Sixers just struggled to cobble together good offense and defense at the same time. If they were getting stops, so were the Suns, and vice versa.
• The Sixers gave themselves one last chance as they scored five straight to cut the lead under double digits with less than two minutes. Durant came right back down and answered with a three that was the dagger.
• The Sixers stay at home as they welcome the Washington Wizards to town. They’ll square off Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.