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    • The Suns win again late, top 76ers as Durant closes the show, scores 35 points
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    The Suns win again late, top 76ers as Durant closes the show, scores 35 points

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    The Phoenix Suns have no shortage of dramatic endings – or wins.

    They found themselves in a tight spot again on Monday night, picking up their fifth straight win over the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-116, in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071 at the Footprint Center.

    Kevin Durant completed a game-high 35-point performance with a basket to give the Suns a 6-1 lead with 24 seconds left. Durant scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth on 6-of-8 shooting.

    Phoenix ended the game with a defensive stop as Paul George missed a jumper and Tyrese Maxey missed a Desperation 3 at the buzzer.

    Six Suns reached double figures as Bradley Beal scored 17 points. Jusuf Nurkic posted a double-double with 15 points and 15 points.

    Royce O'Neale scored 15 points and shot 3 of 4 from 3, Grayson Allen contributed 13 and Devin Booker added 13 on a dismal 3 of 18 shooting.

    Maxey led the 76ers (1-5) with 32 points, hitting 6 of 15 from deep, Guerschon Yabusele scored 19 off the bench, while George contributed 15 points in his 76ers debut.

    Philadelphia is still without Joel Embiid, who has not played this season as he is sidelined with a left knee injury.

    Here are five takeaways from Monday's game. The Suns complete a three-game homestand against the Miami Heat on Wednesday at 7 p.m

    Durant in the clutch

    Suns point guard Tyus Jones spoke after Monday morning's shootout about having Booker, Durant and Beal as a luxury because they can “bail you out” with their ability to score.

    Hours later, Durant did just that with back-to-back baskets to win the game.

    Jones also said there was a need to be organized on offense.

    “The more we can get them in better positions to give them space to put the ball in the basket, the better,” Jones said. “To answer your question, you'll probably get away with it better, but we also don't want to rely on it or put too much pressure on it to get us out of difficult situations.”

    Durant is always up for the challenge, as are Booker and Beal. The problem is that one of them shouldn't be doing what Durant had to do in Game 4 against a team that's without its best player.

    The Suns have improved from last season but still need to find a way to win in the end. Their biggest margin of victory was 12 points.

    Phoenix's remaining wins were single digits.

    As great as Durant is, the more the Suns can shut down teams early, the more he has in the tank when it comes time to beat some of the better teams with heroic play down the stretch.

    14-3 finish

    I don't know if Philadelphia lost that game or Phoenix won it.

    The 76ers held a nine-point lead (113-104) after Yabusele's fifth 3-pointer with 5:16 left. Yes, that guy who gave his all for France at the Paris Olympics. That's him, headband and everything.

    Philadelphia missed five of its next six shots.

    The Suns contributed as Beal guarded Maxey all night despite suffering elbow and shoulder damage, but the 76ers should have prevented that.

    Still, the Sixers were up by five with 2:04 left and then scored back-to-back turnovers. Kelly Oubre Jr. committed two fouls with 1:40 left.

    Durant and Allen each made two free throws to bring the Suns within one point, but here's the crazy part. This all happened in 24 seconds.

    Had Philadelphia taken care of the ball and made at least one shot, the Suns would have had less time to mount a comeback and might have been down by five if the 76ers had scored on those two possessions.

    I thought Philadelphia had lost, but Durant scored baskets on Phoenix's last two possessions and Allen grabbed a huge offensive rebound to give the Suns a second try.

    Durant looked at Yabusele.

    Grilled chicken. Durable to the brim.

    So maybe both are the case. Then again, maybe not.

    What's wrong with Booker?

    Booker is being named Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 33.7 points in three wins last week, but he has been ice cold in the last two games.

    In Saturday's win over Portland, he went 9 of 23 from the field, 2 of 10 from 3, but scored 28 points. Booker had an even worse shooting performance on Monday, going 0-of-6 on 3s.

    The looks seem good, but he wants to attack the rim more than he has in the past. It has allowed him to reach the finish line better, but it has also allowed him to take more falls to the ground.

    He will find his shot. This has never been a problem as Booker has had bad periods before, but he doesn't seem like he's finding a rhythm.

    Could be due to the substitution patterns. Booker went from playing the entire first quarter to coming out midway through the game. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer has talked about taking into account what can happen at the end of a game and keeping guys fresh.

    This could pay off for Booker later.

    Nurkic double-double but struggling with turnovers?

    The double-double is nice for the big guy.

    It's good to hit another 3, even though he's now 4 of 19 from distance, but the turnovers are a problem.

    Nurkic coughed five times on Monday. Just being careless with the ball.

    This can't continue if the Suns use him as an agent. The 7-footer has 26 turnovers in seven games, but he had the highest plus/minus of Monday's game at plus-16.

    Strange, right?

    The Suns went with him instead of going small, but Nurkic had a really bad turnover late. He needs to get better so the Suns don't become even more dependent on small balls.

    George debut, role in Philly

    George made his 76ers debut after being sidelined with a bone bruise on his left knee suffered in a preseason game.

    We know the skills. He can score at all three levels. He is 6-8 years old and has the size and ability to get into the paint. Handles.

    76ers coach Nick Nurse went into the game looking to use him in short bursts early and didn't try to give George heavy minutes.

    He ended up playing 32 minutes. I'm not sure he should play this often, but Philadelphia will need him to play at an elite level to compete with Boston and New York.

    He will be the third option when Embiid returns because Maxey is the clear No. 2 on this team.

    Not only is Maxey an All-Star, but he is also one of the hardest players to guard due to his speed, acceleration, and tricky ball handling. Significantly stronger this year too.

    The offense will feature Embiid, but Maxey will likely have the ball on the line since it's a guard league. So George has to get where he can fit in and deliver in those moments when opponents are doubling Embiid or Maxey.

    This could be George's last chance to win a championship. If the 76ers do this, he will be the X factor. If they don't, he will bear a significant share of the blame.

    Do you have any opinions on the current state of the suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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    Kathleen William
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