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Phoenix Suns (8-21) v Philadelphia 76ers (7-21)
Friday12/23/2016 7:00pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Arizona Sports 98.7FM
Season Series – Philadelphia 76ers lead 1-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 65-55
Last Matchup – November 19, 2016 Phoenix won 120-105
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Houston Rockets 125-111
76ers’ Last Game – Loss to the New Orleans Pelicans 108-93
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.5 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.5 (29th of 30)
76ers’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 98.1 (26th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 105.8 (19th of 30)
Preview
Phoenix Suns
On Wednesday the Suns lost to the Mike D’Antoni, James Harden and the quick shooting Houston Rockets, their fourth loss overall and second four game losing streak on the season. Devin Booker led all scorers with 28, led the Suns with 7 assists, and tied the team lead with 6 rebounds. In T.J. Warren’s third game back from his head injury, Warren scored 19, grabbed 5 rebounds, and hit a three. Phoenix finished 9 for 25 from beyond the arc. For Houston, James Harden scored 27 and dished out 14 assists, 11 of which was recorded in the first half. Patrick Beverly scored 18, and had 9 assists and rebounds. Houston shot 18 for 38 from three…Phoenix remains near the bottom of the league in field goal percentage at 44.2%, 21st overall, although they are second in the league in shot attempts…Phoenix’s 33.9% from beyond the arc is also 21st overall…They’re 48.8 eFG% is 26th in the league…Phoenix opponents eFG% is 52.2%, 6th worst…As they have been all season, Phoenix is still top-10 in rebounds per game at 45.2, 7th overall. Should the Suns keep up this pace, it will be the highest rebound per game average since the 1990-91 season when that team averaged 45.5 per game…The franchise record is from all the back in the 1968-69 inaugural season when they averaged 54.97 per game…Phoenix’s 18.2 assists per game is the league worst. If continued throughout the season, it would be the lowest assist-rate in franchise history, shattering their lowest assist total of 13-14 where they averaged only 19.1. The Suns have also never finished last in the league in assists per game…The Suns are the worst turnover team averaging 17.2 per game, .8 worse than the second worst team, Philadelphia…They are also the worst fouling team with 22.7…The Suns are the most technical-prone team in the NBA, with 1.1, while over their last three games they are averaging 1.7…Their 113.5 points allowed is the worst defensive scoring allowed since the 1986-87 the same…Eric Bledsoe is leading the team in scoring with 19.9, but Devin Booker is still nipping at his heels with 19.1…Bledsoe leads the team in assists with 5.3, it would be the lowest team lead since Joe Johnson’s 4.4 in 03-04…Tyson Chandler’s 11.5 rebounds is the team’s highest as a leader since Shawn Marion’s 11.8 in 2005-06…Jared Dudley’s 44.9% is 8th in the league…It was against the Philadelphia 76ers at home on December 26 last season that Eric Bledsoe tore his meniscus in his left knee requiring surgery causing him to miss the rest of the season…
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers are averaging 98.1 points per game, tied for fifth worst. The franchise has not averaged over 100 points per game for the season since 1996-97…Philadelphia’s 43.2% field goal percentage is 3rd worst in the league…The Sixers are 6th in the league in three-point field goals made with 10.6 and attempted with 30.0. Their 35.5 shooting percentage is 12th overall…They are tied for 9th in assists with 22.7…Their 5.8 blocks per game is 4th in the league…Though 5th worst in fouls per game, The 76ers’ 21.6 personal fouls per game is 3.8 fouls per game better than Phoenix…Over their last three games, Philadelphia is only averaging 98.1 per game…They have allowed 105.0 points per game in the same span, 13 points fewer than the Suns’ 118.0…While Phoenix leads the league in possessions per game with 106.2, Philadelphia is averaging 101.2, 12th overall…Philadelphia’s 9.4 offensive rebounds per game is the lowest in franchise history since the statistic was kept in 1973-74…Joel Embiid is having a spectacular rookie season averaging 17.9 point, .4 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 41.8% three-point shooting percentage, each team leads…Forward Ersan Ilyasova leads the team with 6.4 assists and his 14.4 points per game is second on the team…Robert Covington leads the team with 1.6 steals per game…Robert Covington takes 62.6% of all field goals from beyond the three-point line, leading the team. Nik Stauskas is second on the team in percentage of field goals from three with 59.0%…
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