Sixers hit dirty dozen to start season

BRETT BROWN often talks about how things, usually bad, happen to his team in the blink of an eye. Sometimes that time frame could encompass a season, a road trip or a couple of games. Last night against the Phoenix Suns the blink took 4 minutes, 42 seconds.

The Sixers held a 27-20 lead with only 1:28 to go in the first quarter after a three-pointer by reserve Alexey Shved. Then the blink occurred. With a combination of horrible Sixers defense, questionable shot selection and precision offense by the Suns - particularly from diminutive Isaiah Thomas - they snapped off a 20-4 run en route to a pathetically easy 122-96 win.

The sizzling shooting continued throughout the second quarter, when the Suns hit 10 of their 15 shots, scored 41 points and grabbed a 67-44 lead at the break. At one point in the third, the Suns took a 72-44 lead, marking a time period of just under 19 minutes that they outscored the Sixers by 37 points (65-28). Later, the lead grew to as high as 34.

The 5-9 Thomas came off the bench for 12 minutes in the first half and hit all five of his shots for 17 points. Fellow sub Gerald Green also was hot off the pine for Phoenix, hitting all of his five shots for 11 points in under 11 minutes in the first half. Thomas finished with a team-high 23, leading eight Suns in double figures.

If there was any gratification for the Sixers in losing their 12th straight game to start the season to close in on both team and NBA records, it was that Phoenix guard Eric Bledsoe got some good Philly treatment. The guard caused a stir earlier this week when he said the Sixers "would probably maybe get one game" if they played a seven-game series against Kentucky. He started the night getting whacked in the face by Nerlens Noel on a drive to the basket in the Suns' first possession and was lustily booed throughout. He shook those things off enough to collect 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

After the Sixers opened the quick lead, you could see the Suns (8-5) generate a new sense of purpose.

"There's pride in that," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said of not wanting to lose to a winless team. "That's why when you get on streaks; sometimes they're hard to break. I think our guys realize that we're not one of these teams, that we're going to step out on the court and show up and win a game. In this league, anybody can beat you any night. Our guys know that; they understand it. Of course, they don't want to be the team that the streak ended on."

No worries there last night.

"It just happens," Tony Wroten said of the second-quarter flood by the Suns that wiped out any hopes of the season's first win. "I'm not sure, but it's one thing after another. They made a lot of tough shots, but we weren't playing the defense that we're capable of. In this league, if you don't pay attention to the 'D,' you can go from down two to down 30 real quick."

The Sixers, who got 18 points from Michael Carter-Williams and 17 from K.J. McDaniels, are now three games off tying the team record for most losses to start a season and need six more to tie the NBA record of 18 set by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets.

Don't blink. You might miss it.

After a one-game stint coming off the bench after starting the first 11 games, guard Tony Wroten was back in the starting lineup, teaming with Michael Carter-Williams for the first time this season at the beginning of a game.

Wroten scored 13 points and made six of his eight shots in a little under 25 minutes.

"Whatever has planned for us as a team, we'll just roll. I started a lot this year, so I'm perfectly fine with that," Wroten said. "Last year, I came off the bench, so it's not really a change for me, playing-wise. When you're starting, there's no getting warmed up for it. It's right off the bat. When you come off the bench, you get to see how the game's going, you get to see how they're playing you. When you start, you get to see for yourself, so it's definitely a different mindset."

Before the game, the team announced that swingman JaKarr Sampson had been sent to the Delaware 87ers, the team's NBA Development League affiliate. Sampson played in nine games for the Sixers, starting two.

"The fact that he hasn't played in a while, and the logjam, obviously, is a result of that and just to get him games," Brett Brown said. "I think it's one of the great things about having our NBDL program, where we can go back and forth and use him in that respect, and it's not like he's having to catch a plane to go play. He gets in a car and goes down and gets minutes in a basketball game."

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