The Suns made things awfully messy, but the Sixers got an other impressive on their road trip.
Feb 8, 2026, 4:41 AM UTC
That’s a pretty important lead to hold on to and bounce back.
The Sixers hung on this time, defeating the Phoenix Suns 109-103 Saturday night.
Joel Embiid led the way again with 33 points and nine rebounds going 9-of-19 from the floor. Tyrese Maxey, off a couple scoring bursts, put up 29 points and six assists shooting 8-of-21 from the field.
Kelly Oubre Jr. put up a much-needed 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting and got away with some shaky fouls late.VJ Edgecombe had a quiet scoring night putting up five points on four shots along with six rebounds and two assists while Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 28.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
* At some point we’ll have to figure out Embiid’s stats over his career in games he’s sported a headband. Both he and Maxey joined Edgecombe in donning one for this night. Embiid knocked down his first three jumpers — two from behind the arc as he’s slowly resurrecting his three-point percentage on the season.
* He was the only one on the court in a rhythm early with both teams dropping below 40% from the field. The rest of the Sixers opened the game 4-of-13 from the floor. Maxey missed his first three attempts, some quite badly, before burying a wide open corner three with a lot of time to spare.
* Their only points after that came from another Maxey three, this time of the stepback variety. It was still enough to keep the Sixers ahead by two after the first, despite the Suns getting some clean looks from deep. They made only one of their 13 attempts.
* It’s funny that as of late Quentin Grimes’ two finishing packages have been absolutely yamming on people or finger-rolling every layup, but both have been working for him well as of late. A few minutes into the quarter it was Oubre who slammed over somebody, timing the bounce perfectly from a long Maxey pass.
* The second unit, led by Maxey, continued to play good ball as a unit, going on an extended 17-2 run. They moved the ball well in the half court offense, but the way they continued to try to turn misses into fast breaks helped them control the pace of the game. With the Suns still not able to buy anything from the floor it gave them plenty of chances to do so.
* After a couple of Sixers’ turnovers, Royce O’Neale and Jordan Goodwin seemed to finally open the lid for Phoenix from beyond the arc. Embiid settled things down with frequent trips to the line on the other end, getting the Suns quite frustrated when he put them in the bonus with three minutes left in the half. The Sixers couldn’t quite take full advantage — Embiid, Grimes and Dominick Barlow all missed one late in the half, keeping the lead at 11 at the break.
* It was one of those quiet nights for Edgecombe with the other two going and the rookie being in foul trouble, but he opened a very good start to the half with a three off the catch. Oubre piled on with a couple baskets off the catch while Embiid finished another layup through contact.
* Embiid had another brief heater from the midrange, keeping the Suns at arms’ length as Brooks and Devin Booker both began to shake off slow starts. It was Booker who was more irritated to start the quarter, but Brooks got increasingly irritated as the Sixers got him in foul trouble. That plus taking a hard shove from Oubre on a screen had him chirping nonstop with Oubre and Embiid.
* Around him there were things to clean up — two backcourt violations and three offensive rebounds gave Phoenix plenty of cracks at it, but they still couldn’t get above 40% from the field. A Maxey layup kept the Sixers lead at 10 after three.
* Fittingly, it was two minutes before either team made a field goal to start the fourth, but the midrange jumper from the baseline was proving to be Maxey’s reliable shot for the night. Trendon Watford showed the makings of a solid offensive night, getting himself to the line before helping Adem Bona get wide open in the dunker spot for an easy bucket.
* It was truly a rollercoaster — not only did Watford turn it over a couple of times, but they were offensive fouls, making him the third Sixer of the night to pick up at least four fouls. He had an and-1 taken away by a challenge. A few possession later he appeared to drill a three from the parking lot, but replay review showed that it did not actually beat the shot clock. He was at least able to come out of the timeout and hit a floater.
* Embiid again took the reins and got himself some baskets from the nail, but the Suns kept coming up with a three-point answer to stay alive. After O’Neale buried one from deep Booker hit his first of the night. An and-1 from Brooks quickly sped up the Sixers’ math problem.
* Another stepback three from Maxey is just what the Sixers needed. In a comedy of errors, Booker and Maxey proceeded to get fouled shooting threes on three straight possessions with, keeping the lead just four with 17 seconds remaining. Oubre was the offender both times for the Sixers. The Suns had to put Maxey on the line again, and throwing the ensuing inbounds pass out of bounds was enough to put an ugly win to bed.
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