BOX SCORE
PHOENIX -- The Sixers entered Phoenix for the second game of a back-to-back set riding high off a New Years Day win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the other hand, the Suns were concerned about snapping a six-game losing streak, knowing they play far better on their home floor where they had won 9 of 16.
The Sixers were able to cut a second-half deficit to just two points with 2:10 remaining, but a couple of critical turnovers down the stretch (two of their 17) sealed a 95-89 loss to the Suns. The defeat dropped the Sixers record to 15-18.
Turning pointThe Sixers took a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime, but were outscored 27-17 in the third quarter. They also turned the ball over five times during the period and allowed the Suns to connect on 11 of 18 field goal attempts.
The Sixers trailed by nine heading into the fourth quarter.
Follow the leaderSuns forward Luis Scola had his third straight 20-point performance, scoring 21 to go with nine assists. Goran Dragic added 20 points, while Marcin Gortat had his 11th double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Jrue Holiday registered his second career-triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. However, Holiday did have six turnovers after giving the ball away just once against the Lakers.
Thaddeus Young scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and Dorell Wright was 6 of 8 for 14 points as well.
Stat-egicThe Sixers committed 17 turnovers that led to 14 points for the Suns.
Take a bowPhoenixs Shannon Brown was slated to be in the starting lineup as he had been in 20 of the Suns 32 games played this season. However, in an effort to try and get back to the teams winning ways, Alvin Gentry decided to start P.J. Tucker.
Brown came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while Tucker had 10 points and six rebounds.
Whats next?The Sixers wrap up their eight-game road trip with arguably their two most difficult contests on back-to-back nights. Friday night, the Sixers play at Oklahoma City and tip off against the San Antonio Spurs just 24 hours later.
Each team leads their respective divisions with the Thunders record at 24-6 and the Spurs standing at 25-8.
The Sixers hosted the Thunder on Nov. 24 and lost 116-109 in overtime. In that contest, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 67 points. However, it was OKCs three-point shooting in the extra session that doomed the Sixers.
The Thunder had four different players hit a three in OT as outscored the Sixers 18-11 to win by seven.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com.