February 10th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
I think it is official: ever since Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand ended his season with a knee injury, the team has actually played quite well without him. And from the least likeliest of sources – Mareese Spreights. In Monday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, Spreights had one of the best games of his career as he and Thaddeus Young combined for 49 points as Philadelphia easily disposed of Phoenix 108-91 at the Wachovia Center.
Things immediately went the 76ers’ way as Young scored 14 points in the first quarter, staking Philadelphia to a 30-25 going into the second quarter; they would build and take into halftime a sizable 55-44 lead. The third quarter and beyond was all Philadelphia as Lou Williams would drain a 3-pointer, enabling the Sixers to take a commanding 93-75. The Suns obviously saw the writing on the wall as they would soon rest their starters for the remainder of the game.
Philadelphia’s high scorer was Young with 25 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal while Speights added 24 with 7 rebounds, a steal and 2 blocked shots; Andre Iguodala pitched in 22 with 5 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal.
Phoenix was led by Amare Stoudemire with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Jason Richardson added 16 with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Philadelphia (26-24) plays again on Wednesday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies while Phoenix (28-22) flies to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers – also on Wednesday night.
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