Sixers lose 109-99 to Phoenix Suns despite Kelly Oubre Jr.’s best efforts

The 76ers were without their perennial All-Star center Joel Embiid, his backup Andre Drummond, and their wise elder statesman, Kyle Lowry.

The trio’s absence combined with poor shooting led to a 109-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers (14-20) shot 39.1% from the field — including 15-for-40 on three-pointers. They also made just 16 of 26 foul shots. Things were so bad that Sixers players were booed during a timeout with 8 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and at the conclusion of the game.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid, Kyle Lowry, and Andre Drummond will sit out Sixers’ game against the Suns

The Sixers “didn’t make any shots tonight,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I think it finally caught up with us as far as having to play in transition a ton.”

Paul George had another rough night, committing two turnovers and finishing with 13 points on 5 of 18 shooting from the field and 3 of 9 on three-pointers. Fans could be heard yelling, “Get him out!” after one fourth-quarter turnover.

There were a few bright spots. The Sixers welcomed back Kelly Oubre Jr. after he missed three games with a sprained left hand. And the shooting guard was a welcome addition, finishing with 26 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t be that smooth,” Oubre said. “But I was just trying to attack, be aggressive, put myself in position to be successful instead of just waiting. It worked out. I still feel like I missed a lot of easy ones, and things like that. Free throws were horrendous tonight. But finding that groove, but next game is a new story.”

Tyrese Maxey finished with a game-high 31 points to go with 10 assists.

However, the Sixers missed the post presence of Embiid (sprained left foot) and Drummond (sprained left toe). And with Lowry (sore right hip) out, the Sixers had to rely on two-way player Jeff Dowtin Jr. to provide first-half backup point guard minutes.

Guerschon Yabusele got the start at center in place of Embiid. The 6-foot-8, 279-pounder finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

» READ MORE: Sixers center Joel Embiid is starting to return to form, with five straight 25-point outings

Meanwhile, Bradley Beal paced the Suns (16-18) with 25 points in his first game in a reserve role. Twenty of his points came in the second half. Kevin Durant added 23 points, while Devin Booker had 10 points and 10 assists. The Suns have won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Sixers. The two losses over that stretch were the previous two games at The Center.

“He got going with some sideline throw-ahead, step-up action,” Nurse said of Beal. “He was getting around the bend, a little too fast on us. But I think we lost a little bit of our spark, just based on how poorly we were shooting the ball, because we were getting what I thought were really, really, good shots for most of that game.

“I thought our energy was great to start. Our defense was really good, but our offense ... well, the shooting wasn’t where it needed to be compared to how we were playing.”

While the Sixers slogged as a team, Oubre appeared refreshed after having several days of rest.

The shooting guard made his first two baskets on a 10-foot jumper and a dunk. He ended up with eight points on 4-for-7 shooting to go with three rebounds while playing the entire first quarter. Oubre checked back in with 5 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the half. At that point, the 6-8, 210-pounder grabbed five rebounds in addition to guarding Durant the rest of the half.

However, the Sixers had a tough time making shots in the third quarter. They missed 11 of their first 14 attempts from the field — including going 1 of 8 of three-pointers. The Sixers also were 2 of 7 from the foul line during that stretch. As a result, Phoenix built a commanding 64-55 lead with 3:59 left in the quarter. Phoenix would extend its lead to 12 points.

However, Oubre scored 13 points in the third quarter to lead the Sixers’ comeback effort. His three-pointer at the end-of-quarter buzzer pulled the Sixers within 78-73.

The Sixers made two more comeback attempts that were squashed by momentum-killing clutch baskets by Phoenix.

“We did get some good looks. I’m not going to lie,” Maxey said. “Yabu was open a few times from three that we like. I mean, I got some threes. Paul got some threes. We shot some good shots, honestly. Some of them didn’t go down, of course. I think we did a decent job with that.

“I think the biggest thing for us tonight was our defense. We kind of took a step back on that end, just like our communication or switching and our guarding the ball a few times. But it will be alright.”

The Sixers will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday in the first of this season’s three meetings. The Wizards have the Eastern Conference’s worst record, 6-27.