The Sixers held off the Suns and notched their 30th win of the season Saturday night in Phoenix.
They improved to 30-22 and 3-1 on their West Coast road trip with a 109-103 victory.
Joel Embiid had 33 points and nine rebounds. Tyrese Maxey posted 29 points, nine boards and six assists.
Dillon Brooks scored 28 points for the 31-22 Suns and Devin Booker added 21.
The Sixers will finish their trip Monday night when they meet the Trail Blazers. Here are observations on their win over Phoenix:
Embiid’s shooting streak
Embiid hit a mid-range jumper over Mark Williams to get the Sixers on the scoreboard. He also drained two three-pointers in the first quarter.
After a poor start to the season beyond the arc, Embiid has gone 20 for 39 (51.3 percent) over his last 11 contests. He’s made at least one three in 12 straight games and sunk a season-high four on Saturday night.
Earlier in the season, everyone could see Embiid thinking at times about whether taking an open three was the best option for the Sixers. He hasn’t shown any of that hesitation for weeks.
As a team, the Sixers matched their five made threes in Thursday night’s loss to the Lakers when Maxey knocked down a triple in the last minute of the first quarter.
Sixers’ bench in middle of second-quarter run
On the other end, the Suns had a nightmare shooting start. They missed 18 of their first 19 three-point attempts.
Booker, a player who’s torched the Sixers on plenty of occasions, returned from a right ankle sprain and took the floor for the first time since Jan. 23. He had a quiet, rusty start.
The Sixers capitalized on Phoenix’s shooting woes and played very well early in the second quarter as Embiid rested. The team stayed with a four-man bench of Trendon Watford, Justin Edwards, Quentin Grimes and Adem Bona, all of who contributed to the Sixers’ extended run.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had a showman’s reverse slam. Edwards and Grimes both made layups and Bona chipped in a put-back bucket. Leading by two points after the first quarter, the Sixers raised their advantage to as many as 16 in the second.
Key role for Watford
An Embiid and-one layup early in the third quarter gave the Sixers a 66-47 lead.
The game became quite chippy, including Booker-Embiid and Oubre-Brooks conversations that did not appear at all friendly. Embiid’s foul drawing increasingly irritated the Suns. He shot 11 for 13 on the night at the charity stripe.
The Sixers’ offense hit a dry, stagnant spell and the Suns cut their deficit to single digits late in the third quarter. Again, the Sixers did strong work without Embiid to open the fourth.
Watford continued to play an important role as a versatile player who’s capable of initiating the offense and quite comfortable next to his good friend Maxey. He logged 27 minutes Saturday on a night VJ Edgecombe struggled with foul trouble.
From the 4:10 mark of the third quarter until the end of the game, Watford never left the floor. Watford dished a no-look assist to Bona and the big man’s dunk put the Sixers up 87-71.
The Suns kept competing and forced the Sixers to play until the final buzzer of a foul-filled fourth quarter.
Phoenix pulled to within 101-97 on a pair of Booker free throws, but Maxey responded with a clutch step-back three and the Sixers were fine from there.