PHOENIX — 76ers star Joel Embiid successfully frustrated the Phoenix Suns and an arena full of fans on Saturday, leading Philadelphia to a 109-103 win and spoiling the injury returns of Devin Booker and Jalen Green.
Dismal 3-point shooting from Phoenix and frustrations with Embiid’s foul drawing took some of the air out of Mortgage Matchup Center, although the Suns managed to nearly erase a 19-point deficit in the second half to catch up in the fourth quarter.
Phoenix never quite got back to within a possession of Philadelphia, trailing by four points with a minute to play.
The Suns started the game 1-for-19 from deep with 18 straight misses to put them in a hole. Many of the bricks came on wide-open shots, what head coach Jordan Ott called 97 percentile looks. For a team with the seventh-highest percentage of its shots coming from beyond the arc in the NBA, that was a significant hindrance.
After a 76ers 15-2 run in the second quarter, the Suns trailed 44-28.
“We gotta get to the rim,” Ott said. “We love 3s, but we love getting to the rim too and all that does to your offense.”
It was at that point when Phoenix started to build something, breaking the lid off the rim from deep with a rapid 8-1 run to get back within a reasonable margin.
But the momentum halted as the Sixers got to the free-throw line 11 times in the final 4:30 of the half, slowing the game down, drawing the ire of the fans and frustrating the Suns players. Embiid, who shot eight of those free throws, and Booker received double technical fouls after jawing while going into halftime.
“ I told him he’s too good of a player to be flopping like that,” Booker said. “We had Olympic experience together, he’s somebody I have high respect for. Just competition.”
That said, Booker did not understand what the technical foul was for.
“ I asked the ref, ‘What’d I say?’ He said, ‘I don’t know what you said. I just saw you guys talking to each other,'” Booker said. “It’s crazy out here.”
Devin Booker & Joel Embiid exchange words. 👀🍿
pic.twitter.com/Fig01sCSZw
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 8, 2026
Embiid has led the league in free throws per game three times in the last years, that’s what he does. Was every single call correct? Probably not, but the Suns let it become the plot for the middle eight minutes of the game.
After Phoenix’s deficit crawled back up to 16 in the fourth quarter, the Suns’ season-long tenacity showed by as they fought to get back in striking distance in the final minutes.
Dillon Brooks had a standout fourth quarter with 11 points to finish the game with a team-high 28, even guarding Embiid and making him work on the other end.
“ I can guard the flopping and all that,” Brooks said of taking on Embiid. “Went to the line about 14 times. It’s a lot, especially for stuff that’s not even shooting fouls. It’s a great crew of refs that were reffing the game for Philly tonight.”
Dillon Brooks said Saturday's Suns loss to the 76ers featured a "great crew of refs that were reffing the game for Philly." pic.twitter.com/wQUekTgG2U
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 8, 2026
Phoenix forced six turnovers in the fourth and started hitting its 3s, but Philadelphia still made enough plays to grind out the win.
Embiid finished with a game-high 33 points, although he was a minus-10 on the floor. Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points and finished plus-14. He hit three free throws with 18 seconds left after Booker fouled him on a 3-point heave to ice the game.
Devin Booker and Jalen Green return for Suns
Booker took some time to get going on Saturday, as he missed his first three shots early and did not hit a field goal until the second period. He had seven points at halftime, but he looked the part in stretches and finished with 21 points on 5-for-12 shooting with 10 free throws.
He said his ankle felt decent, explaining he was motivated to get back after Phoenix’s loss on Thursday to Golden State.
“This is an important stretch right before the break where I feel like we need to capitalize,” Booker said.
Green came off the bench and looked explosive in the first quarter, scoring six points including a layup in which he went up-and-under a defender’s contest. He also delivered a pair of dimes to bigs, both leading to points. He was pretty quiet after that, however, finishing the game with eight points.
Green played 16:42, while Booker finished with 32:07. Ott said before the game that there were competitive minute ranges the two would adhere to.
“I’m not all the way where I want to be, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Green said.
Phoenix finished the game 11-for-46 from deep (24%) in its first game since sharpshooter Grayson Allen went down with a knee sprain on Thursday. Ott said Allen would be re-evaluated after the All-Star break next weekend.
“When you don’t see the ball go in for extended period of times, I think it’s incredibly hard to play and these guys continued to fight,” Ott said of the effort.
Devin Booker stressed the importance of letting the shots fly, even when they're not falling like on Saturday (11 of 46 from 3). pic.twitter.com/K9AWFg0rnv
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 8, 2026
Ott did not want to use reincorporating two key contributors in the lineup as an excuse for the uneven offensive performance on Saturday, saying, “anytime you get two players like that back to your lineup, we’re not gonna complain.”
Brooks pointed to Phoenix’s defense on Saturday as an area in need of improvement, specifically closeouts, rim protection and rebounding. Phoenix lost on the boards 50-40.
The Suns have two more games until the break, taking on the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, both at home.
Phoenix is in the seventh seed of the Western Conference, one game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.