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Sixers use strong second half to down Suns

Dec 30, 2010 - 6:41 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Jrue Holiday scored 25 points to go along with seven assists, rookie Evan Turner added 23 points in a reserve role, and the Philadelphia 76ers topped the Phoenix Suns, 123-110, at US Airways Center.

Andres Nocioni added a season-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Spencer Hawes notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards for the Sixers, who are 3-3 on a eight-game road trip.

Elton Brand and Thaddeus Young scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Philadelphia.

The Sixers played without swingman Andre Iguodala, who missed his second straight game while dealing with right Achilles tendinitis. Reserve guard Lou Williams scored 10 points in his first game back after missing two games due to the birth of his daughter.

"Needless to say, that was incredibly gratifying," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "I'm not used to those kinds of games. At halftime, I told our coaches I felt like a car going downhill without brakes. The Suns are so good at playing that game and I was so concerned about us being able to play that way for 40 minutes. We got a handle on them a little bit in the second half."

Steve Nash led Phoenix with 23 points and dished out 15 assists, but the Suns lost their season-high fourth in a row. Grant Hill added 17 points, five assists and five rebounds.

"It's frustrating. We're losing, we're not playing well defensively, we're practicing our defense and it's not carrying over to the game, and it's frustrating, so we got to fight through it," Nash said. "We've got to test ourselves, our mental strength and our emotional commitment everyday and try to bring it and get better and not let it get to us."

Vince Carter contributed 18 points in his Suns debut. The former All-Star missed four games with a sore knee since being acquired by the Suns in a six- player trade with Orlando on December 18.

Phoenix was up 84-81 with 3:15 left in the third, but a Holiday jumper 21 seconds later started an 11-2 Philadelphia run to end the quarter.

Holiday and Hawes both connected on mid-range jumpers, Nocioni converted on a three-point play and Turner ended the run with a short jump shot to put Philadelphia up 92-86 entering the fourth.

The Sixers' lead remained around seven for the opening minutes of the fourth, and it ballooned to 11 points after Nocioni hit two from the line with 5:10 remaining to make it 108-97.

Brand drained a short jump shot inside the final minute to put the Sixers up a game-high 14.

Nash scored 10 in the first quarter as the Suns took a 35-33 lead into the second. Philadelphia shot 63.2 percent from the field in the quarter en route to a 66-65 halftime lead.

Game Notes

Mickael Pietrus, who was a part of the six-player Orlando deal, finished with 15 points in 26 minutes of play. The other Phoenix acquisition, Marcin Gortat, scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss...Philadelphia held a 46-31 rebounding advantage...The Sixers will finish their road trip with visits to the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans...Philadelphia's last win in Phoenix came on March 1 2008.