Sixers scorch Suns for 13th win in last 16 home games

IT WAS 74 DEGREES in Phoenix yesterday, Suns coach Alvin Gentry's wife relayed to him during an afternoon call. Gentry proceeded to tell close friend and 76ers coach Doug Collins that it hadn't been 74 degrees combined in the five cities the Suns visited during their recent road trip, which ended last night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Perhaps the Suns had their minds on getting back home after visits to New York, Cleveland, Washington and Detroit before finishing here. Or perhaps they play a style that perfectly suits the Sixers. Whatever the reason, the Sixers completed the season sweep of the Suns with a solid 105-95 win, upping their record to 19-25 and giving them their 13th win in the past 16 games at home.

This was a game for the Sixers to sharpen their alley-oop plays, to get anyone and everyone out on the fastbreak, to basically cut loose offensively against the perfect defensive opponent.

And they did just that.

Thaddeus Young might have a sore left forearm today from all the slams he threw down on his way to 24 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dealt five assists. Elton Brand even got out on the fastbreak a few times, but mostly bulled his way through another night, collecting 22 points and nine rebounds. Evan Turner confidently dropped the open jumpers he was given throughout the evening and compiled 14 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists. And Lou Williams provided his normal spark off the bench with 14 points, while also dishing six assists. Of their 44 field goals, the Sixers collected 31 assists.

It appeared the Suns' defense caught the early flight back to Phoenix.

"We had some beautiful pass plays tonight - lobs for dunks, extra passes off of steals," Collins said.

The story goes that Charles Barkley once said that Leon Wood should be called Leon Woo, because there ain't no D in him. Wood, now an NBA official, would fit nicely with this Suns team.

The defense by Phoenix (20-23), or lack of, provided the Sixers a rare opportunity to open up the offense and air it out, a rare occurrence in the daily grind that is the Eastern Conference.

"Their style of play is more up-and-down, fastbreak and spread the court a little bit," Brand said. "Defensively, that's what you're facing. Offensively, you can do that against them, so that's what we did."

The Sixers finished the game shooting 54.3 percent from the floor (44-for-81). The assist total was their second highest of the season. Throw in a season-high 12 steals and it explains why they swept the Suns for the first time since 2001-02.

"Our whole game plan tonight was to try to keep the pressure on them, make Steve Nash work on every possession on both ends of the floor," Collins said. "We were trying to hopefully wear him and Grant Hill out as much as possible. They were on the back end of a long trip, and I thought our bench was terrific."

Sub Jared Dudley led the Suns with 23 points, while Nash collected 17 and nine assists, but also turned the ball over five times.

The Sixers broke things open in the second quarter with a 35-22 blitz, sparked by 10 points from Young. The lead grew to as many as 22 in the third, before dipping to 10 late in the fourth. Collins called a timeout for a teaching lesson, he said.

"I've never coached a garbage minute in my life," Collins said. "I didn't want us to fall asleep. With a 21-point lead [in the fourth] and it falling down to 12 with 6 minutes to go and then Alvin [Gentry, Suns coach] bringing Nash back in. I wanted to keep it out of reach, so that he wouldn't want to put him back in the game. That's what I kept urging our guys, to finish the game."

Perhaps they didn't want to, as this was one of the more fun ones to play.

"It's great, it feels good any time you can go out there and knock down shots and help your team win basketball games," Young said. "We just go out there and play, play aggressively. We're meshing well with the coaches. We're meshing well with each other. We're focusing in and we're going out there paying attention to details.

"I love playing a game like this. I don't have to bump and bang with guys under the basket all the time. As far as playing a game like this, they want to get out in transition."

Lou Williams has scored in double figures in 10 straight games . . . In the two wins over Phoenix, Evan Turner had 37 points on 15-for-22 shooting. He also has dealt 14 assists over the past five games, without a turnover . . . Vince Carter had only two points for the Suns, only the seventh time in his career he has scored two or fewer . . . Doug Collins gave the team off today. The Sixers visit the Toronto Raptors tomorrow night at Air Canada Centre. *