NBA: Three 76ers players score 20 in win vs. Suns

Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

The Philadelphia 76ers found a gear Wednesday night they didn’t think they had.

Jrue Holiday scored 25 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns123-110 Wednesday night. Evan Turner scored 23 points off the bench and Andres Nocioni finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

“Coach came in at halftime and said we aren’t really the team to run with them like that but we stayed with them,” Holiday said.

Philadelphia was without Andre Iguodala, who missed his second straight game with tendinitis in his right Achilles’ tendon. The 76ers lost their first 11 games this season when allowing 100 points or more. Shooting 54.9 percent helped.

“That was about as complete a win as we’ve had all season long,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

Steve Nash had 23 points and 15 assists to lead Phoenix and Vince Carter added 18 points in his Suns debut. Carter has missed four straight games with a sore knee after he was acquired in a six-player deal on December 18.

Grant Hill added 17 points for the Suns, who have lost four straight, their longest losing streak in nearly a year.

“There are so many things we are doing bad and I just can’t find an explanation,” said Marcin Gortat, who had 13 points and six rebounds. “I’m trying to get some rebounds and stops but when a team is scoring 120 points there aren’t that many things for me to rebound.”

The 76ers won for the second time in their last nine trips to Phoenix.

Carter put Phoenix ahead 84-81 on a 15-foot jump shot with 3:15 to go. But Holiday made consecutive baskets, Spencer Hawes added a 20-footer and Nocioni converted a three-point play to spark an 11-2 run to end the quarter that gave Philadelphia a 92-86 lead.

Phoenix made it 110-105 on Nash’s 3-pointer with 3:36 remaining and still trailed 114-107 when Turner sank a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:42 to go to give the Sixers a 10-point lead.

“The team talked to me earlier and said I just needed to step up and I was just looking for my own shot a little bit,”

Before Philadelphia’s late scoring burst in the third, the teams had exchanged the lead 18 times and had been tied 15 times with neither team opening more than a five-point lead.

“We were hitting big shots,” Holiday said. “We had a great shooting game. We really got up and down.”

Game notes
Sixers guard Lou Williams chartered a flight to meet the team in Phoenix after missing two games to attend the birth of his daughter. … Jason Kapono dressed for Philadelphia but did not play. … The Suns last lost four straight from Jan. 13-18. … No Phoenix player had more than six rebounds.

by STATS LLC and The Associated Press