Recap: Philadelphia vs. Phoenix
By Sports Network
The Sports Network
Jason Richardson sank six shots from beyond the arc and finished with 29 points, while Steve Nash ended with 21 points and 20 assists, as the Phoenix Suns used a strong second half to post a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Nash recorded his second 20-assist game of the season, having already done so October 30 against Golden State. Jared Dudley ended with 18 points off the bench for Phoenix, which improved to 7-1 this season.
Dudley connected on 4-of-5 three-pointers, helping the Suns finish 15-of-30 beyond the arc overall.
Andre Iguodala finished with 24 points and nine rebounds to pace the Sixers, who have dropped two in a row. Marreese Speights added 20 points and eight boards off the bench in the setback.
"They continued to make a lot of threes," Iguodala said of the Suns. "They made the tough shots and made the open ones. When the three-ball's going for them, they're really tough to beat."
In a back-and-forth game down the stretch, Iguodala sank a basket to even the score, 108-108, with 2 1/2 minutes left.
Each team came up empty on its next possession, but Richardson threw down a dunk in transition with 2:14 to go, and was fouled on the play. His free throw made it a three-point game, and after a missed three from Lou Williams, Richardson's layup off a cross-court pass by Nash expanded the Suns lead to 113-108.
Williams missed the next two shots for the Sixers, and inside the final minute, Rodney Carney got to the line for Philadelphia. However, he made just 1-of-2 to keep Philadelphia down two possessions, and Nash made six free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal the victory.
"It was a good win for us," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said. "We just struggled in the first half. We got great shots, we just didn't knock them down. I was a little disappointed our defense was just so wide open. They seemed to be driving everything to the basket. I thought we did a much better job in the second half with that."
Willie Green's free throw gave the Sixers a 27-25 lead at the end of a back- and-forth first quarter, and Philadelphia opened the second quarter with a 13-3 run. Jrue Holiday's three-pointer ended it for a 40-28 advantage.
The Sixers went up by 16 late in the half, though Richardson's three got Phoenix within 66-54 at the break.
The Suns continued to close the gap in the third, opening the quarter with a 12-4 run. Richardson had five points in the stretch, which Nash ended with a layup to bring his team within 70-66 just over three minutes in.
Phoenix drew even late in the quarter, as a Leandro Barbosa three made it an 84-84 game.
Speights' jumper put the Sixers up two heading to the fourth, and they led by a small margin in the opening minutes. A Jason Smith three and Speights basket expanded Philadelphia's lead to 100-92, but the Suns overtook the lead with three-point shooting.
Dudley hit consecutive shots from beyond the arc to get Phoenix within two, and Barbosa drilled one with five minutes to go to put the Suns up, 105-104.
Game Notes
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