By The Associated Press’s Anthony Sanfilippo
The city of Philadelphia The Phoenix Suns defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 109-99 on Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak, and Bradley Beal scored 25 points after coming off the bench for the first time in nine years.
The Suns overcame an early 12-point hole and won for the second time in nine games as Beal, who had been moved to a backup role prior to the game, scored 20 points in the second half.
For the Suns, Ryan Dunn scored 15 points and Kevin Durant scored 23.
For the Sixers, who were without Joel Embiid due to a sprained left foot, Tyrese Maxey finished with 31 points and 10 assists. Philadelphia fell for the third time in four games, with 26 points from Kelly Oubre.
Takeaways
Suns: Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer removed longstanding mainstays Beal and Jusuf Nurkic from the starting lineup and had them come off the bench in an attempt to energize his team. For the seventh straight game, the Suns fell down after the first quarter, but the strategy paid off as Phoenix’s bench outscored Philadelphia’s reserves 54-7.
76ers: Philadelphia looked to Guerschon Yabusele to help take up some of the offensive slack from the center position after Embiid was benched for the 21st game of the season. The 76ers lost 7–14 sans Embiid, and Yabusele finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
On Monday, January 6, 2025, in Philadelphia, Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns, left, dunks against Paul George of the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half of an NBA basketball game. (Photo by Matt Slocum/AP)AP
Key Moment
A seven-point deficit was turned into a 12-point lead that was too great for Philadelphia to overcome as Phoenix went on a 25-6 run in the third quarter.
Key Stat
With three 3-pointers apiece from Durant, Beal, and Dunn, the Suns went 14-for-30 (46.7%) from beyond the arc.
Up Next
Tuesday marks the conclusion of the Suns’ three-game journey to Charlotte. On Wednesday, Philadelphia will host Washington.
https://apnews.com/hub/nba is the AP NBA.
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