3 observations after George struggles, Embiid-less Sixers lose to Suns in return home 

The Sixers’ first home game since Dec. 23 sure did not go as they’d hoped.

The team suffered a 109-99 loss to the Suns on Monday night, falling to 14-20 this season. 

Tyrese Maxey posted 31 points and 10 assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. tallied 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Paul George shot just 5 for 18 from the field and had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Bradley Beal led the Suns with 25 points and Kevin Durant scored 23 on 9-for-14 shooting.

The Sixers were down Joel Embiid (left foot sprain), Andre Drummond (left toe sprain), Kyle Lowry (right hip soreness), Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery) and KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction). 

They'll host the Wizards on Wednesday night. Here are observations on their loss to Phoenix:

Sixers’ defense starts in high gear 

Entering the night on a four-game losing streak and with several straight weeks of very disappointing results, the Suns changed their starting lineup. Beal and Jusuf Nurkic both moved to the bench.

Durant kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer … and the Sixers then hit the Suns with a 14-0 run. Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele drained threes, Oubre and Yabusele threw down dunks, and the Sixers had their way on both ends. 

Yabusele competed well on the defensive glass and brought his typical high energy level from the opening tip. His relative lack of height was not a major problem against Suns centers Mason Plumlee and Nurkic and he fired often on always-available pick-and-pop jumpers (3 for 8 from three-point range). 

In his return from a left hand sprain, Oubre began the game guarding Devin Booker. The four-time All-Star was scoreless in the first quarter and shot 1 for 10 from the field in the first half. While players like Durant and Booker are always capable of making perfectly contested jumpers, the Sixers’ team defense was excellent in the early going. 

The Sixers sent smart double teams at Phoenix’s stars in the post, rotated sharply and didn’t concede unnecessary fouls. Coming off a taxing six-game road trip, that sort of defensive effort was encouraging. 

2 rookies in the rotation  

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse used every available player Monday, playing six men off the bench and turning to two rookies in Justin Edwards and Adem Bona.

Bona’s shown he will hunt all rebounds, fly around on defense and sprint up and down the court as hard as he possibly can. He also slammed in a second-quarter dunk Monday off a pick-and-roll with Maxey. 

The UCLA product then blocked a Booker layup attempt, which eventually led to an Edwards three. While Bona got whistled for two fouls in his first-half stint, including a moving screen, he did decent nice work for a rookie who’d been outside of the rotation for an extended stretch.  

No one on either side could score with any regularity until late in the second quarter. The Sixers had an especially dry spell in the second that included an in-and-out Maxey three and a couple of missed Ricky Council IV runners. George’s iso game was ineffective.

Nothing cooking for George

George tossed in his toughest shot of the night early in the third quarter, making an off-balance semi-heave after thinking Suns rookie Ryan Dunn had fouled him.

That moment didn’t jolt George and the Sixers’ offense into life. Oubre missed two foul shots in a row during a 10-0 Phoenix spurt. Maxey ended the run with an and-one runner on Durant … and missed the free throw. At one point, the Sixers were 5 for 12 on foul shots.

George couldn’t hit an open catch-and-shoot three, Beal drained a corner jumper and the Suns soon had a double-digit lead. The Sixers obviously need much better from George in terms of efficiency and run-stopping buckets without Embiid. 

Oubre was ultra-aggressive late in the third quarter. He yelled out, "Come on!" after drawing a foul and implored the fans at Wells Fargo Center to raise the volume. They were plenty loud when Oubre swished a buzzer-beating three to trim the Suns' lead to 78-73 going into the fourth quarter.

Maxey drilled a three to begin the fourth, but the Sixers then scored one point over the next four minutes. George struggled to create anything off the dribble against Dunn and the Sixers' offense was often halting and disjointed. Phoenix's advantage swelled to 15 points when Dunn beat the Sixers' zone with a long-range jumper.

Any hints at a Sixers comeback seemed unlikely to be the real deal. Sure enough, Durant nailed two threes in front of the Suns' bench and Phoenix closed out its first win since Christmas.