The Suns started the game on a 19-12 run and ended it with a 17-6 run. Bam! The Suns are back, baby!
Wait, what? What was that?
Oh yeah, there were those other 35 minutes in the middle, where the Suns were outscored 87-59. Ouch.
The Suns looked slow, unsure of themselves, un... un... un everything you can think of. The Sixers are somehow the Suns' achilles heel, while the Suns are somehow the Sixers' elixir.
Hindsight is always 20/20 of course, but can someone tap Gentry on the shoulder and remind him that the Suns are no longer built to "go small"?! Please? They just don't have the offensive firepower anymore to outshoot and outrun everyone else in the league, and their sparkplug PG is, while still highly effective, no longer a speed demon.
Gentry tried to go small against the Knicks a few weeks ago (the infamous Childress start at C) and failed miserably, then stuck to his big lineup in the rematch just last week and watched the Suns win. Lesson learned, right?
Tonight, he played Gortat and Lopez a grand total of 17 minutes. He played small the rest of the game to try to match up to the Sixers. Well guess what? The Sixers wiped the floor with the Suns. Wiped it clean.
No more recap is necessary here.
Suns vs 76ers coverage
Suns vs 76ers boxscore
Phoenix Suns Last Flames Of Hope Might Have Ended With Loss In Philadelphia - SB Nation Arizona
Turnovers, 16 of them leading to 30 points for the 76ers, are the stat that will get the most attention, but the bottom line here was the Suns didn't have the talent on the floor to compete with their young, athletic and skillful opponent. Certainly, they weren't going to get it done with Vince Carter giving his "half man, half former amazing player" performance.