Sixers Let Third Quarter Torch Them Again In 116-110 Home Loss To Suns

Short-handed and on tired legs, the Sixers let a winnable night slip when a brutal third-quarter collapse flipped the game and the building. A late push wasn’t enough to erase 38 points of Suns damage in nine minutes, and another home loss followed with the same old execution issues staring them in the face.

The Phoenix Suns came into Philly today playing great basketball, and with the Sixers on the back end of a back-to-back, and both Joel Embiid and Paul George sitting for scheduled minutes management, the 76ers would need to find a way to stop the Suns from taking over the game early. Conversely, the Sixers have come into tonight’s game at .500 over their last 10 games.

The first half was a back-and-forth event, with neither team playing particularly crisp basketball. The Suns were turning the ball over, which led to several easy Sixers buckets. The Sixers didn’t play too much better; without much ball movement, the team was carried by Kelly Oubre Jr. with his 16 points and VJ Edgecombe with 12 first-half points. One continuing trend is that the 76ers aren’t executing to close out quarters, which is only worse when Embiid isn’t on the floor.

When the teams came out after the half, another issue that has plagued the Sixers all season so far was the third quarter was a problem again tonight. The difference tonight is that the Suns took a 4-point lead into halftime, and the Sixers erased that lead and stormed ahead to a 66-59 lead. In the next 9 minutes of the third, the Suns went on a 38-16 run and took a commanding 97-84 lead into the 4th. In the 4th, the Sixers put up a valiant effort, cutting the lead to as low as 5, but their lack of execution tonight dammed them as they dropped this one 116-110, falling back under .500 at home, at 11-12.

The Sixers Defense Wasn’t Good Enough Tonight

The Suns came out from halftime looking like a different team. Part of that drastic change was that they tightened up their execution and cleaned up the passing, particularly the play of Devin Booker, and the two-way play of Grayson Allen, but the bigger reason was that the Sixers defense was caught flat-footed on too many occasions. This has been a pattern at home this season so far; the defense is too passive on the home court. This is something that happened tonight again, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

The Sixer who really was having trouble staying in front of Suns players was Justin Edwards, who was a paltry -17 on the floor. He was blown by on several occasions by Booker who he got on switches. The defense tightened up in the 4th quarter, which is one of the main reasons the Sixers made a comeback in the 4th, but the consistency isn’t there. The one highlight was a block by Edgecombe on Jalen Green.

bucket DENIED! 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/QUmzZLtskt

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 21, 2026

Shots Weren’t Falling For Maxey or the Sixers, Especially Late

Tonight on the tail end of a back-to-back, the consistency was not there, particularly in the third quarter, which has been the Achilles heel of the 76ers this season. Tonight was only the third time in Maxey’s career that he had more than 25 attempts and only had 7 or fewer shots go down. Typically, it’s Edgecombe being the facilitator and Maxey being the finisher, but tonight they flipped the script, and the Sixers fell just short.

Part of why Maxey was cold on the floor tonight was how the Suns played defense on him. They changed defenders on him frequently and played very physically, which Nick Nurse addressed after the game. This is a strategy that has been the only thing that has really slowed Maxey this season. It was a slow night at the office for him, but let’s be clear, he scored 20 points, and most would take that all day, but when you’re the third leading scorer in the NBA and an All-Star Game starter, the expectation level is raised. The other consideration is that the team’s shooting mirrors Tyrese’s, and tonight is another example of that. Expect more defensive pressure on Maxey going forward; teams will try to disrupt Maxey, who is the motor of the Sixers this season.

Execution Remains an Issue For the Sixers

Taking the location of the game out of the mix, the execution for the Sixers has been suspect for the last few weeks. The standings show this. In the last 10 games, the Sixers are 5-5, and this stretch has been a bit hit and miss from the execution standpoint. Granted, this is to be expected to an extent with the veteran leadership in street clothes, but this is an area that the team needs to address quickly. There will be nights, especially on back-to-backs, where George and Embiid will sit to manage their workload, but the other players need to step up and raise the level of play when both are not in the lineup.

To make a strong run in the playoffs, the Sixers will need to step up and, most of all, correct lazy passes. During the Suns’ 38-16 run in the third, several passes were nowhere near the target, including the pass that put the Suns ahead, a lead they wouldn’t give up, en route to a big road win for their team. As good as they played in the second half, this was more of a Sixers loss than the Suns blowing them away. Lacking execution and consistency is one of the reasons the Suns went on that 38-16 run in the third.

In the end, this needs to be cleaned up, especially against teams that are on the same level as the Sixers. They had chances to take control and limit the damage, but self-inflicted wounds took them out of the game and ended as just another disappointing home loss for a Sixers squad looking for its identity at home.

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