Coming into the 2023-24 NBA season, the Phoenix Suns were supposed to be one of the league's title contenders. With a star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Suns have hopes of making a run to the NBA Finals. So far though, it's been a rocky start to the year with Beal and Booker dealing with injury issues. The Suns most recent loss came on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers. Suns head coach Frank Vogel defended the way his team guarded Sixers star Joel Embiid as per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“I was happy with how we guarded him as a whole,” Frank Vogel said. “He had five free throw attempts, so I thought we had really good discipline there. I thought we were pretty early to help on his post ISOs and his pocket plays in the pick and roll.”

In the Sixers win against the Suns, Joel Embiid finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. He shot 9-18 from the field and 3-3 from the three point line.

Through the Sixers first four games of the season, Embiid has been averaging 34.0 minutes per game. He's also been averaging 30.3 points per game, 11.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.5 blocked shots with splits of 50 percent shooting from the field, 37.5 percent shooting from the three point line and 74.4 percent shooting from the free throw line.

The Sixers are hoping to still be among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference even with the James Harden trade while the Suns are hoping for the same in the West.