PHILADELPHIA — Guard Ish Smith had 20 points and nine assists as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns 113-103 Tuesday night in a meeting of two of the NBA’s worst teams.
Forward Robert Covington added 19 points and guard Nik Stauskas had 15 for Philadelphia, which is 4-17 at home and 7-39 overall, both worst in the league. The Sixers, who are 6-9 since opening the season 1-30, won for the third time in five games.
Philadelphia center Nerlens Noel contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.
Guard Archie Goodwin scored 26 points and center Alex Len had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, the league’s fourth-worst team (14-32). Phoenix slipped to 4-19 on the road, the league’s third-worst mark.
Goodwin notched 20 of his points in the fourth quarter, when the Suns shaved a 19-point, third-period deficit to seven on two occasions, the last time when he converted a steal into a breakaway dunk with 3:51 to play.
Noel answered with a jumper, and Smith scored the next six points in an 8-3 Philadelphia surge, giving the Sixers a 109-97 lead with 1:11 remaining.
The Suns, who lost guard Eric Bledsoe for the season to a knee injury sustained Dec. 26 against the Sixers, were also without guard Brandon Knight (abductor strain) for the third consecutive game and forward Jon Leuer (back spasms) for the fourth straight.
Philadelphia center Jahlil Okafor, the team’s leading scorer, sat out because of illness, as did guard JaKarr Sampson.
The Sixers built a 35-26 lead early in the second quarter behind Covington, who scored all 11 of his first-half points in the first 13 minutes, including three 3-pointers. Phoenix crept within three later in the period, but Philadelphia scored the half’s last six points, five of those by Stauskas, to carry a 54-45 advantage into the break.
Covington was the Sixers’ leading scorer in the first two quarters. Len had 12 to top Phoenix.
Covington also dropped in a pair of 3-pointers early in the third quarter, the second of which gave his team a 68-49 cushion with 8:01 left in the period.
Sixers guard Isaiah Canaan left the game late in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle and did not return.
NOTES: 76ers coach Brett Brown said C Jahlil Okafor will also not play Wednesday in Detroit because of illness. … Philadelphia G Ish Smith spent the 2013-14 season with the Suns, the only time in his six-year NBA career he has finished a season in the same place he began it. “We loved him when we had him in Phoenix,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said, adding that while Smith didn’t play a lot, he often saw action when the team needed a boost. “And all of a sudden everybody seems to run a little bit faster down the court,” Hornacek said, “because they know they might get the ball.” … Earlier in the day, the 76ers announced that their new practice facility, based in Camden, N.J., will open later this season. At 125,000 square feet, it will the largest in the league.