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Sixers takeaways: Kelly Oubre Jr. underused, Paul George plays isolation ball

by Keith Pompey
Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

Sixers lose 109-99 to Phoenix Suns

Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

Kelly Oubre Jr. should have been more involved. Paul George relied too much on isolation basketball. And the Wells Fargo Center crowd grew impatient with the 76ers as they fell, 109-99, to the Phoenix Suns Monday.

Oubre’s effort

Oubre’s 18 shot attempts were tied with George for second most on the team behind Tyrese Maxey’s 25 attempts. But one can argue that Oubre should have shot the ball at least five more times.

The 6-foot-8 shooting guard made nine attempts en route to scoring 26 points to go with 11 rebounds. Thirteen of his points came in the third quarter on 4-for-6 shooting.

In the fourth quarter, Oubre scored just three points on 1-for-4 shooting. Despite carrying the Sixers for three quarters, he was a bystander for most of the fourth.

Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

George’s play

George had another subpar shooting performance, finishing with 13 points on 5-for-18, including missing 6 of 9 three-pointers.

Early in the game, the Sixers posted him up as a way to help get easy buckets. But as the game progressed, he settled for isolation-play jumpers.

Unfortunately for him, the majority of his shots didn’t fall. And his style of play led to teammates being iced out.

Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

Fans losing patience

Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

The expectation was that the Sixers would defeat a struggling Suns squad that had lost its previous four games. But as things started to unravel, fans booed the Sixers for their subpar play during the fourth and following the game.

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