Monday, January 24, 2011

Sixers stay hot at home; top Suns

Philadelphia - Thaddeus Young led a solid Sixers effort off the bench with 24 points as Philadelphia continued its strong play at home by compiling a 105-95 win over Phoenix.

Young, who scored just two points, in the team's last outing against Utah on Saturday, also snared seven rebounds, dished out five assists and had two steals in the victory.

Lou Williams and Evan Turner added 14 points apiece off the pine as the Sixers reserves scored 58 points. Elton Brand paced the starters with 22 points and nine rebounds as Philadelphia improved to 13-3 at Wells Fargo Center since a poor 1-4 start on its home floor.

"I thought our bench was terrific," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "Thaddeus was our ace of spades tonight."

Jrue Holiday chipped in with eight points, eight assists and a season-high six steals for the hosts, who matched a season-best with 12 thefts overall and swept the Suns in the home-and-home season series for the first time since 2001-02.

Jared Dudley netted 23 points for Phoenix, while Steve Nash added 17 and handed out nine assists.

"We let a couple games get away," Dudley said. "This game obviously got out of control. We are going home but we got three out of five which will take."

Grant Hill contributed 13 points and Goran Dragic finished with 12 for the Suns, who lost the last two games after claiming the first three on a five-game Eastern swing.

"They did a good job of swarming and being aggressive on the ball and we weren't able to handle that," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said of the Sixers.

Six Shots:

*The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes due to a problem with one of the rims.

*The Sixers finished a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe on the night. The last time Philadelphia shot 100 percent from the line was Feb. 28, 2007, also against the Suns.

*Philadelphia also had 12 steals in its last game vs. Utah.

*In two games versus Phoenix this season, Turner has averaged 18.5 points on 15-of-22 shooting.  Meanwhile, over his last five games the rookie has 14 assists and no turnovers.

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