76ers-Suns Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Jan 02 2013 3:19AM

It's becoming quite clear which player propels the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Phoenix Suns' offense, though balanced, is without a go-to scorer.

The visiting 76ers look to carry the momentum from a big road win into Wednesday night's matchup with a Suns team trying to snap a six-game losing streak.

Philadelphia (15-17) had lost eight of nine on the road prior to Tuesday's 103-99 win against the Los Angeles Lakers, the fifth stop on a season-high eight-game trip. Jrue Holiday continues to be the team's biggest difference maker, finishing with 26 points and 10 assists for his eighth double-double of the season.

Philadelphia got a glimpse of life without Holiday in mid-December, and it wasn't pretty. He was sidelined for four games with a sprained left foot, and the 76ers were outscored by an average of 13.0 points in losing each.

The 22-year-old Holiday is averaging a team-high 18.9 points and ranks third in the league with 8.9 assists per game. Those numbers are improved from 13.5 and 4.5, respectively, from last season.

"He is an incredibly hard worker," coach Doug Collins said. "He wants to be great. He lets our coaching staff coach him and he's playing with tremendous confidence.

"I'm thrilled with Jrue. We had to play four games without him. I don't want to do it again."

Holiday had one of his best performances in a 104-101 win over the Suns on Nov. 25, finishing with a career-high 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting to go with 13 assists. In four games against the Suns since 2010-11, he is averaging 20.3 points - his best against any opponent in that span - and Philadelphia has won each contest.

Phoenix (11-21), which has lost 13 of 17, doesn't have a clear star, relying on six players who average 10 or more points: Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Shannon Brown, Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Michael Beasley.

They continue to be bothered by poor execution in the fourth quarter, perhaps partially due to the lack of a reliable closer among the bunch. They trailed Oklahoma City 92-87 with 6:46 remaining on Monday, but lost 114-96. Phoenix shoots 42.2 percent from the field and averages 22.4 points in the final period, both its worst marks in any quarter.

"We have a problem of closing out games," said Marcin Gortat, who averages 11.3 points and 8.4 rebounds. "We just don't know how to execute in the last few minutes and we have to work on it. That's it."

Facing the Sixers might not help, considering they're holding opponents to an average of 22.8 points in the fourth quarter, the league's seventh-best mark.

Poor 3-point shooting is also plaguing the Suns during their skid. They're shooting 25.0 percent from distance over their last six and have made a total of 12 in their last three games. Meanwhile, opponents are hitting 40.2 percent of their 3-point shots over the last six.

Top 3-point shooters Dudley (39.0 percent) and Dragic (34.7 percent) are a combined 12 for 45 (26.7 percent) over the last six.

Suns beat 76ers to end six-game skid

By JONATHAN DALTON
Posted Jan 03 2013 12:31AM

PHOENIX (AP) Luis Scola and the Phoenix Suns have watched a lot of late leads vanish. On Wednesday, they found a way to hold on.

Scola scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and the Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers 95-89 to snap a six-game losing streak.

"It's only one win but we needed one win," Scola said.

Phoenix, which leads the NBA with nine games decided by three points or fewer, led by nine entering the fourth and pushed the lead to 11, before the 76ers cut the lead to two.

Jrue Holliday found Dorell Wright breaking down the left baseline from halfcourt for an alley-oop layup that pulled the 76ers within 87-85 with 2:16 to go.

Goran Dragic made a pair of free throws, P.J. Tucker hit a 16-footer and the 76ers turned the ball over twice over the next minute as the Suns opened a 91-85 lead.

"We do that regularly," Scola said. "The difference this time is we let a team get to two but we closed out the game. If we had been able to close (more) our record would be much better."

Dragic added 20, Shannon Brown scored 12, and Marcin Gortat had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns.

"Games are going to be close," said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "We're not going to be up seven and then up 20. That's just not going to happen."

Holliday had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double for the 76ers, who are 2-7 in the second half of back-to-back games. Wright and Thaddeus Young had 14 points apiece for Philadelphia.

"I thought that once the third quarter started and they got a little bit of a lead, I thought they had control of the game," said 76ers coach Doug Collins. "We looked up and we had a chance but we never came up with a big rebound."

The Suns played the second half without backup point guard Sebastian Telfair, who was shut down after halftime with soreness in his left knee.

Phoenix led by seven after the first but quickly fell into its normal second-quarter lull. Nick Young had a pair of 3-pointers and Wright added five points as the 76ers outscored the Suns 17-6 to start the period and open a 41-37 lead.

But it was Philadelphia that came out cold in the second half. Scola had consecutive baskets and Jared Dudley added a 21-foot jumper to key an 8-2 run that put the Suns ahead 56-51 with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

Lavoy Allen cut the lead to 60-59 on a 19-footer with 6:34 left in the period but the 76ers could pull no closer.

"I think tonight we turned the ball over when we didn't need to," Holliday said. "I can say I did. And the loose balls we needed to get, we didn't do that."

NOTES: Scola has scored 20 or more in three straight games. ... Phoenix has won five of its past seven at home. . The Sixers are six games into a season-high, eight-game holiday road trip. ... Phoenix beat Philadelphia for the first time since February 24, 2010. ... Dragic had a career-high three blocks, as many as the 76ers as a team. . More than 1,200 Kansas State fans, in town for Thursday's Fiesta Bowl against Oregon, were in the arena and were chanting for former Wildcat Michael Beasley to enter the game. They also booed Suns forward Markieff Morris, who played at Kansas.

Notebook: Suns 95, Sixers 89

Jonathan Dalton, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:52 AM - Updated Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:52 AM

THE FACTS: Luis Scola scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and the Phoenix Suns survived a late Philadelphia rally to beat the Sixers 95-89 and snap a six-game losing streak.

The Suns led by as many as 11 early in the fourth quarter before watching Philadelphia cut the lead to 87-85 when Jrue Holiday dribbled a step past halfcourt and found Dorell Wright charging down the right side for an alley-oop layup. Unlike recent games, however, Phoenix was able to recover from its opponent's run.

Goran Dragic hit a pair of free throws and P.J. Tucker added a jumper to put the Suns (12-1) in front 91-85 with 1:18 left.

Holiday finished with 16 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his second career triple-double, and Wright and Thaddeus Young added 14 points apiece for the 76ers (15-18).

Dragic had 20 points, six assists and three blocked shots, Shannon Brown scored 12 and Marcin Gortat added 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns, who snapped a four-game losing streak against Philadelphia.

QUOTABLE: "It's only one win but we needed the one win."

-- Scola

THE STAT: The Suns forced the 76ers into 17 turnovers and held Philadelphia to 10 offensive rebounds on 47 missed shots.

TURNING POINT: As per usual, Phoenix was on the verge of letting the game slip away in the second quarter. Philadelphia opened the period with a 17-6 run to turn a seven-point deficit after the first into a 41-37 lead with 5:30 left in the first half. But the Suns wouldn't fold. Dragic and Jared Dudley had consecutive baskets to tie the game and Philly led by only one at halftime. An 8-2 run to start the third quarter, sparked by Scola's consecutive baskets, gave the Suns the lead for good.

HOT: Scola was 6-for-8 from the floor in the second half and 7-for-8 from the free-throw stripe. Though he had only two first-half points, his six assists at halftime were as many as the rest of his teammates combined and only two behind Holiday's eight..

NOT: Philadelphia center Spencer Hawes came in with three double-digit performances in his past four games. Against the Suns, however, he scored six points on 3-for-11 shooting across 24-plus largely ineffectual minutes.

NOTABLE: Suns backup point guard Sebastian Telfair missed the second half with soreness in his left knee. ... Phoenix has won five of seven at home. ... The 76ers finished with as many blocked shots -- three -- as Dragic. ... The teams combined for only 18 fast-break points. ... Holiday's 10 rebounds matched a career high.

IN THE ARENA: More than 1,200 Kansas State fans, in town for Thursday's Fiesta Bowl matchup against Oregon, were among the 16,000-plus in attendance. They started chanting for former Wildcat Michael Beasley to enter the game, despite the forward's firm place near the end of the Suns' bench, and booed Suns forward Markieff Morris, a one-time Kansas Jayhawk, when he checked into the game. The fans got their wish when Beasley entered the game at the start of the second quarter, going 1-for-4 from the floor for two points to go with four rebounds and a blocked shot in 6:44 on the court -- his only game action of the night..

QUOTABLE II: "I told Markieff that Big 12 stuff runs deep."

-- Suns coach Alvin Gentry

UP NEXT: For the 76ers, Friday @ Oklahoma City, Saturday @ San Antonio, Tuesday vs. Brooklyn. For the Suns, Friday vs. Utah, Sunday vs. Memphis, Tuesday @ Milwaukee.

• 76ers: Bynum, Moultrie
• Suns: Frye, Garrett

• 76ers: --
• Suns: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #30 John Goble, #72 J.T. Orr
• Attendance: 16034
• Duration: 2:13