The Philadelphia 76ers (4-1) took on the Phoenix Suns (2-4) on Saturday afternoon as they debuted their new City Edition look. The Sixers did not disappoint in the Reading Terminal Market-inspired look, securing their fourth straight win with a score of 112-110.

Let's break down the Sixers' win over the Suns.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 9-18 FG shooting

Embiid was not above the cartoonish sloppiness of this game. He still made a huge impact on defense and scored important buckets but was turnover-prone. The second half looked much crisper, as he picked apart Phoenix’s defense even as they played him more aggressively. He had 15 points in the third quarter.

Tyrese Maxey: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 9-18 FG shooting

The birthday boy didn’t have a great game from start to finish but did play a pivotal role in a dominant fourth-quarter run with Embiid on the bench. He shot the ball poorly at first, even coming up short on a corner triple that he had multiple seconds to wind up for, before a huge second-half outburst. He also spread the ball around to teammates and only committed a few turnovers.

Kelly Oubre Jr.: 25 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 10-18 FG shooting

Are we sure the Sixers should make Oubre just a temporary starter? He's got the shot-creation juice that, as the Rights to Ricky Sanchez's Mike O'Connor pointed out, they lack in the Embiid-in-Maxey-out lineups. Any skeptics he had once he joined the Sixers are becoming believers.

Suns player notes:

Kevin Durant: 31 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 9-20 FG shooting

Without his co-stars, Durant carried a heavy load for the Suns. The Sixers used five different defenders on him and he still found his way to get buckets, generate foul shots aplenty and command the entire defense's attention. He wasn’t crisply careful with the ball himself but still had a very strong showing to keep his undermanned team in it.

Eric Gordon: 13 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 6-15 FG shooting

Gordon stepped up with the Suns' star shooting guards sidelined, getting downhill with the threat of his jumper luring the defense out and lowering his shoulder to drive. It's too big of a role for him to have consistently but he didn’t look overmatched.

Game reap:

1st half:

With Nicolas Batum still away from the team and after a real practice for the new guys, the Sixers still ran with Kelly Oubre Jr. in the starting lineup. Before the game, Nick Nurse said that there is “probably a case for using a couple of those guys today considering the matchups that we have” but didn’t commit to any of the former Clippers seeing any real minutes. The Suns, meanwhile, were without Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Tobias Harris got the Durant assignment and found it tough to stick with him around Jusuf Nurkic's screens and dribble-handoffs. But the Suns found it tough to stick with the Sixers and Embiid doing much of the same, resulting in three shooting fouls altogether in the first two minutes and change. Harris and Grayson Allen each picked up a pair of early fouls and Nick Nurse had Kelly Oubre Jr. take Durant — but then Oubre picked up two fouls. De'Anthony Melton had an early pair of great defensive plays: a block on Eric Gordon and a pick-pocketing of KD that he turned into an assist for Maxey in the breakaway.

Furkan Korkmaz and Robert Covington came in for the Sixers' starting forwards. The case for using one of the newcomers being a reliever for guys with early foul trouble is a strong one. RoCo, unfortunately for Philly, picked up a quick shooting foul on KD. Patrick Beverley then got some run guarding Durant, irritating him with aggressive play. He's known to do that. Phoenix committed six turnovers in the first quarter but trailed by just one at the end of the period.

The vibes of the game were the typical brand of chaos you would expect from a Saturday afternoon contest. No one could hold onto the ball well and easy shots came up empty, some with really bad misses. Harris continuing to be aggressive inside helped the Sixers stay ahead but this game was just [insert the gif of Kevin Malone spilling the chili all over himself here]. Gordon outdueled Maxey as the leader of his team's second unit. Jaden Springer contributed to the craziness, looking like a bowling ball going for rebounds and making whoever is near him a pin.

Maxey and Oubre linking up for a long alley-oop shot some life into the crowd before a Ref Show broke out. A missed call on Harris resulted in a tech for the Sixers forward that also put a halt to the Suns' early-shot-clock offense. Then Embiid got hit with a charge call and the play was reviewed for a flagrant foul after his elbow hit Nurkic's face. He was indeed hit with the flagrant and Nurkic blew both of his foul shots.

The Sixers led 52-45 at the half.

2nd half:

Drew Eubanks started the second half in Nurkic's place and Harris went back to guarding Durant. Eubanks got into Embiid's grill but with a smooth step-through move on one possession and a smooth, catch-and-shoot three, he helped buoy Philly's lead. The Sixers started the half strong, settling in on offense and moving the ball around. Embiid and his teammates understood the gravity he created when he got the ball and found the gaps. And then Embiid did it himself with a thunderous, and-one slam.

The Suns' offense — understandably — lacked the juice to keep up with Philly. Durant resorted to some tough shots and Phoenix couldn’t get much else opened up in the halfcourt. Philly helped itself by staying alert on the offensive glass, bringing their strong gang rebounding efforts to the other end of the court.

The Sixers couldn’t pull too far away, though, as a cold spell opened up a chance for a Suns run. With a 13-4 run, they eventually brought a 14-point deficit to five. Even with Durant sitting the final few minutes of the third, a Josh Okogie backdoor cut that Patrick Beverley was not ready for cut it down to two. Before the quarter ended, Embiid pushed it back to five with an end-of-shot-clock, on-the-move three, because of course he did.

Korkmaz scooping a layup under Nurkic's outstretched arms at the start of the fourth quarter provided the first points from the Sixers' bench all game. Philly very clearly needs some more ball-handling in the lineup, as the guards off the bench and Melton simply are not cutting it. Beverley is fine but he’s not really creating many looks.

The Suns going with Durant to start the fourth while Embiid rested didn’t swing the game in the Suns' favor as far as it needed to for them. Philly actually won those minutes by five points thanks to Harris' strong play on both ends. He battled with KD, as did Covington from time to time, and provided some points out of the post. Paul Reed had his best stretch of the season as he and Maxey, who hit a pair of off-dribble triples, one of which was over Durant, also powered the run.

Embiid didn’t end up having to play the rest of the way. Phoenix emptied its bench with just under four minutes to play. The Sixers eventually followed suit, playing K.J. Martin in garbage time again.

Philadelphia has officially exacted its revenge against Arizona. It’s not much but it's something.

Random rumblings:

  • The Sixers' City Edition court looks stellar in person and I think the uniforms, even with the two different fonts, are pretty solid. They don’t stand up to the comparison of the Spectrum jerseys and I know the Allen Iverson-era design is missed but I think they're still nice, especially compared to some other teams' City Editions.

The Sixers' homestand will continue on Monday against the Washington Wizards.