Phoenix Suns End Sixers' Win Streak on Sunday

Last Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers opened up the week with a shocking shorthanded win against the Miami Heat. At the time, Miami was the Eastern Conference's

Last Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers opened up the week with a shocking shorthanded win against the Miami Heat. At the time, Miami was the Eastern Conference's top seed, while the Sixers sat in third place.

As Philadelphia was coming off of a loss against a shorthanded Toronto Raptors team last Sunday, the Sixers weren't going into the Miami matchup with much momentum. In addition, the Sixers also sat Joel Embiid and James Harden, making the situation even more difficult.

But the Sixers overcame those obstacles. Tyrese Maxey and the Embiid and Harden-less Sixers stepped up and picked up an unlikely win over the Heat, which kickstarted a win streak for Philadelphia.

After taking down the Heat, the Sixers traveled to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Wednesday. With Embiid and Harden back in the lineup, the Sixers were favored over the shorthanded Lakers. While the process of the matchup wasn't pretty for the Sixers, they achieved their ultimate goal and picked up their second-straight win.

Then on Friday, the 76ers returned to Crypto.com Arena to face the Los Angeles Clippers. Unlike their Wednesday night matchup in LA, the Sixers cruised past their opponent and picked up their third-straight win of the week.

With a day off to travel to Phoenix, Arizona, the Sixers got some rest before facing the powerhouse that is the Phoenix Suns. Going into Sunday's game, the Suns had won seven straight with a record of 60-14. They are the clear-cut top seed in the Western Conference at this point in the year.

Meanwhile, the Sixers entered Sunday's game as the East's top seed after winning three-straight games and seeing the Miami Heat lose a few matchups in a row, along with the Milwaukee Bucks coming up short on Saturday night.

Sunday's game between Phoenix and Philadelphia was already expected to be an exciting one, but the fact that both teams entered the game as the top squads in their conference gave the matchup more juice.

Can't Keep It Rolling

Sixers star guard James Harden has had some underwhelming performances as of late. Ever since he took a rest night in Miami after appearing in four-straight games following his Sixers debut, Harden has struggled with his shooting.

Before Friday's game against the Clippers, Harden had shot just 35-percent from the field and 25-percent from three in eight games. Many were left concerned about his struggles and felt that perhaps his hamstring was holding him back.

Just as everybody grew skeptical, Harden showed signs of breaking out of his slump as he was sharp from the field against the Clippers on Friday. In 34 minutes of action, the veteran went 7-15 from the field and knocked down four of his nine threes. Harden finished the night with a game-high of 29 points as the Sixers cruised past the Clippers for a 25-point win.

Philly was hopeful that Harden was turning a corner and getting back to consistently producing at a high level once again, but Sunday's game was a struggle for the ten-time All-Star. While Harden started off hot by collecting seven points in ten minutes during the first quarter, he couldn't stay on track.

After producing another five points in the second quarter, Harden wrapped up the first half with 12 points. In the third quarter, he missed all three of his shots and failed to get to the free-throw line in nearly ten minutes.

And when Harden played in the entire fourth quarter, he failed to come alive in crunch time. With another three shots from the field, Harden came up empty. With just two free throw attempts, Harden's lone visit to the charity stripe in the second half would be the only opportunity he had to score points.

The star guard finished Sunday night's game by shooting 2-11 from the field and scoring 14 points in nearly 40 minutes of action. 

Battle of the Stars

Joel Embiid and Devin Booker's head-to-head battle on Sunday was must-see TV.

The Phoenix Suns superstar hit on nearly every shot he took in the first quarter of action. As he was red-hot from the field, the Suns kept him on the floor for the entire quarter. Booker opened the game with 22 points in his first 12 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, Joel Embiid had himself a stellar start to the outing as well. In 11 minutes of action, the Sixers' big man went 6-8 from the field and 3-5 from the charity stripe. Embiid scored 15 of Philly's 39 first-quarter points and helped get the Sixers out in front to start the game.

Both stars simmered down in the second quarter but picked up their play again when the second half started. Embiid, who checked in for 10 minutes in the third quarter, knocked down four of his eight shots for ten points.

Devin Booker had a similar showing as he went 4-6 from the field and put up two free throws, accounting for ten points, as Phoenix outscored the Sixers 31-22 in the third.

Going into the fourth quarter, Embiid and Booker were neck and neck, but Phoenix was gaining the edge as they cut into Philly's 15-point lead, got out in front, and led by five points going into the final quarter.

At that point, Booker and the Suns made sure to never lose their lead. While Embiid put on a respectable effort in the fourth quarter by putting up eight points, he didn't get much out of his teammates aside from Tyrese Maxey.

The Sixers were outscored 23-18 in the final quarter of the outing and put away with a 114-104 loss. Embiid finished the night with 37 points in 37 minutes. Meanwhile, Booker's 35 points in 34 minutes helped the Suns issue the Sixers their first loss in a few games as they remain red-hot down the stretch.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.