Instant Replay: Suns 124, Sixers 113

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The Sixers knew the Phoenix Suns rely heavily on their guard-oriented style and still couldn’t stop it.

The Sixers allowed guards Goran Dragic and Gerald Green to combine for 54 points in their 124-113 loss to the Suns at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

The loss was the Sixers’ third in a row and dropped their record to 14-31.

Turning point
The Sixers had taken better care of the basketball of late, averaging 13 turnovers over their last four games.

That went out the window against the Suns. The Sixers turned it over 21 times, which led to 33 points for Phoenix.

Follow the leader
Michael Carter-Williams finished with a team-high 22 points. Evan Turner had 21 points. He was 7 of 12 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the foul line.

Thaddeus Young also had 21 points to go with three rebounds and three steals.

Green led Phoenix in scoring with 30 points on 10 of 12 shooting. Dragic scored 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting and had seven assists.

Phoenix’s starting backcourt duo was a combined 19 for 25 from the floor (76 percent), including 7 for 9 from three-point range.

Center Miles Plumlee posted his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Stat-egic
The Sixers had 11 of their shots blocked in the first meeting between these two teams back on Dec. 28.

The Suns actually improved on that mark Monday night, swatting 12 Sixer shots in the game. It marked the 11th time this season the Sixers have had at least 11 shots blocked in a game.

The Suns entered Monday’s matchup averaging 4.8 blocks per game.

Take a bow
One day after scoring 27 points and grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds, Philadelphia native Markieff Morris made 5 of 7 attempts for 13 points. He also had four of those aforementioned blocks.

Morris’ twin brother, Marcus, finished with four points.

What’s next?
The Sixers play the Celtics on Wednesday in Boston, the first of four meetings between the division rivals.

The Celtics -- like the Sixers -- have struggled this season. They have a 15-31 record at this point and will face the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday before taking on the Sixers.

Jeff Green leads Boston in scoring with 16 points per game.

Rajon Rondo has returned to the Celtics’ lineup after tearing his ACL last season. The All-Star point guard has played in five games so far, all Boston losses. He is averaging 6.6 points, 5.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 23.8 minutes a night.

Boston is under the direction of Brad Stevens, who is in his first year as an NBA head coach.

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