76ers’ seventh win comes on heals of fast-paced, spontaneous offense

The Sixers may be young and inexperienced at the NBA level, but they are spontaneous and creative.

And when they are moving at full speed, utilizing tempo as a weapon offensively, the team is able to put up some impressive numbers. At least against teams like the Phoenix Suns.

Such was the case for the squad in a rare 113-103 win Tuesday night in South Philly, just the seventh of the season for the rebuilding club. The team did Vegas a favor coming through as three-point favorites in the game — an even rarer feat.

Without having to think too long and hard about how to generate offense, the 76ersare their most successful selves making decisions on the fly. Whether it’s driving to the basket or swinging a few quick passes to find an open man, for the most youthful team in the NBA they eem to be pretty proficient early in the shot clock.

There is a downside of course. Philly leads the NBA in turnovers (17.2 per game) and is third to last in field goal percentage (43.1 percent). Tuesday night against the Suns the Sixers were, for 48 minutes, able to buck the trend, earning a convincing ‘W.’

They followed up their fast-paced offense with a fully potent defense, causing Phoenix to turn the ball over 17 times leading to 28 points. They also swatted sixPhoenix shots with Noel contributing threeof them.

With Jahlil Okaforsitting out, NerlensNoel stepped in at the 5-spot and filled the stat sheet, scoring 14 points while grabbing nine rebounds and three steals. Robert Covington was also potent, hitting three of his first four3-pointers (and five in all) to tally 19 points. Ish Smith was his usual selfwith 20 points and nine assists. In all, six Philadelphia players finished in double figures.

Philly led for most of the game, building a 19-point advantage in the third quarter and leading by 13 after 36 minutes. But the Suns didn’t go down quietly cutting things to single digits inside the seven-minute mark.

Down the stretch the Sixerswere able to manage the clock and maintain a double-digit lead to preserve the win.