Player Observations After Sixers Fell Short in Philly vs. Suns

After taking down the Chicago Bulls on the road on Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to their home court on Tuesday night. For the first time this season, the Sixers hosted the top team in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns.

Knowing they were getting one of their toughest tests of the year on Tuesday, the Sixers came out and offered a stiff challenge. While the Suns led the Sixers 29-25 after the first quarter, the Sixers found an edge before going into halftime.

With a strong second-quarter effort by Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, the Sixers managed to outscore Phoenix by eight points. With that, the Sixers went into halftime with a 59-55 lead. At a point during the third quarter, the Sixers led by as much as 14 points. But the Suns weren’t going down easy.

Going into the final quarter, the Sixers led by just one point after the lead changed nine times in the third quarter. And once the fourth quarter rolled around, the Sixers simply couldn’t keep up with Phoenix. With a 24-point combined effort by Suns standouts Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Mikal Bridges, the Sixers were outscored 31-25 in the fourth quarter.

After a tight matchup, the Sixers fell short 114-109. Now, they move on with a 32-22 record and will get the next two days off before taking the court once again on Friday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in South Philly for the first time this year.

76ers vs. Suns Player Observations

Matisse Thybulle

After missing Sunday’s game, Thybulle was back in the starting lineup on Tuesday. As expected, the third-year wing was tasked with guarding Phoenix’s top star, Devin Booker. Although Booker finished with 35 points, Thybulle did a decent job for the most part defensively. He also had one of his better offensive night too as he put up eight points on 2-2 shooting from beyond the arc.

Tobias Harris

Lately, Harris has been playing some solid ball. And on Tuesday, Harris was a primary reason why the Sixers even had a chance to win. In nearly 41 minutes of action, Harris was aggressive and efficient from the floor as he went 13-18 from the field. He wrapped up the game with 30 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. While Harris was frustrated with himself for the four turnovers he caused, the Sixers forward had an excellent game outside of those few mistakes.

Joel Embiid

The All-Star big man led the Sixers in scoring, to no surprise. However, it wasn’t his sharpest night. In the fourth quarter, Embiid took some questionable shots and went 3-7 from the field. Regardless of his rare late-game struggles on Tuesday, the five-time All-Star was still one of the best players on the floor as he put up 34 points in 32 minutes.

Seth Curry

Perhaps, Seth Curry’s ankle and back are still bothering him because he looked rough on Tuesday. In 25 minutes, Curry put up just nine shots. He missed all but eight of them. While Curry made a key three down the stretch, it was his only successful basket.

Tyrese Maxey

The second-year guard had a pretty up and down performance on Tuesday. While he made some tough shots at times, Maxey struggled more often than not on offense. He finished the night with 14 points off of 16 shots. 

Georges Niang

Once again, Niang led the Sixers in scoring off the bench. From deep, the veteran forward knocked down two of his three shots. As he was brought into Philly to hit deep shots, he did a solid job on Tuesday, wrapping up the game with eight points.

Furkan Korkmaz

The Turkish veteran is struggling to get back to the way he played earlier in the year and it’s unclear if he ever will. Once again, Korkmaz served as the Sixers’ backup point guard and his minutes are tough to watch. In 13 minutes, Korkmaz went 1-4 from the field. He also went 0-1 from deep. In the end, Korkmaz wrapped up the game with five points.

Andre Drummond

The veteran big man distributed some nice passes on the offensive end on Tuesday night. He wrapped up the game with five assists. Drummond also collected seven rebounds and put up four points on the offensive end. He didn’t play for much longer than 15 minutes, but Drummond gave the Sixers some quality playing time on Tuesday.

Danny Green

It’s becoming clear that Green is becoming more of a bench piece for the Sixers after starting the entire year last season. He checked in for 17 minutes off the bench on Tuesday. During his time on the court, Green went 1-4 with all of his attempts coming from three. Green was a liability offensively, but he gave the Sixers some decent defensive minutes against Phoenix.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.