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As they enjoyed cheesesteaks with their Phoenix Suns teammates Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., Markieff and Marcus Morris accepted kudos for displaying their dutiful brand of basketball in their native city. Returning to Philadelphia together for the first time as professionals, the twins, who garnered two state championships while suiting up for the Prep Charter High School Huskies, 1928 Point Breeze Ave., helped their Arizona-based bunch to show no brotherly love to the 76ers, whom they defeated 124-113.
“It’s a big deal to come back to Philly and receive so much support,” Markieff said as his colleagues munched on their goodies courtesy of him and his sibling. “We knew the Sixers would give us a tough fight, so it’s good to get out of here with a win.”
The 6-foot-10 forward has proven a provider of consistent efforts for rookie head coach Jeff Hornacek, who spent nearly two seasons hoisting jumpers for the 76ers, entering the contest averaging a career-best 12.7 points. The third-year force, who won the Western Conference Player of the Week award for the Nov. 4 to 10 period, has led his unit in rebounding and scoring six times, heading both charts Sunday in Cleveland as the Suns dumped South-of-South product Dion Waiters and the Cavaliers 96-90. Hitting town with a 25-18 record, the guests are meshing as a young club while the hosts took to the floor with a 14-30 mark.
“Philly is a scrappy team, so we couldn’t relax at all,” Marcus, who joined the Suns nearly a year ago via a trade with the Houston Rockets, who selected him as the 14th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, said. “In the end, it was a lot of fun.”
Seven minutes younger and an inch shorter than Markieff, Marcus is also thriving as a key reserve for Hornacek. The ’10-’11 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year for his junior season exploits at the University of Kansas, where his sibling also matriculated, he has paced the Suns in rebounding twice and scoring once, registering 18 in Dec. 3’s 110-91 loss at Memphis. With encouragement from Markieff, whom the team picked right ahead of him in the draft, he also is posting his best offensive totals. Leaving 60 passes for family and friends, they wanted to impress their backers and keep Phoenix in the playoff race, as they entered seventh in the 15-team pack.
“We knew they were struggling a bit,” Markieff said, “so we thought getting off to a good start would help our cause.”
The 76ers opened the dual having the undesired distinction of having the league’s worst defense, with foes firing in 109.5 points per tilt. The Suns seemed poised to become the latest opponents to register a triple-digit outing, as they knocked down 12 of their first 14 attempts. Markieff received applause when he made his first appearance at the 5:30 mark and quickly added to the onslaught with a bucket.
Marcus looked the give the struggling Eastern Conference representatives double trouble with 47 seconds to go in the opening frame and notched two free throws to help the Suns to craft a 40-26 edge. Continuing to show their tenacity in the second quarter, the young men fed off the Suns’ rapid style of play, with Markieff showing his reach by swatting four shots, picking up a beautiful assist on a dunk by center Alex Len and knocking down three shots, the third coming off an offensive putback. Marcus helped to clog the lane to leave the 76ers with little choice but to settle for high-risk jumpers and tallied two steals, the second leading to a deuce for guard Leandro Barbosa.
“I love providing whatever energy we need,” Marcus said of reinforcing Phoenix’s plans on both sides of the ball.
With a 62-54 lead at the break, the visitors impressed Hornacek with their ability to attack the net but had him slightly concerned over some of the looks they allowed the 76ers. Whatever defensive miscues they committed could not overshadow their offensive prowess, as Markieff et al returned to their first-quarter selves and pumped in 33 points, with five coming from the older twin, two off a technically perfect jumper over forward Lavoy Allen. Finding himself in foul trouble, though, he sat for the end of the third section and much of the fourth. Enter Marcus. Although he did not approach his 9.9 points-per-game average, he played tight defense that assisted in the Suns’ causing 21 turnovers.
Usually trailing by double digits, the 76ers, who never engineered a lead, tried chipping away but fell prey to the hot hand of guard Gerald Green, who led all scorers with 30 points. Hornacek united the Morrises for the last time with 1:44 left, with Marcus tallying their final field goal with a dunk.
“Coach is defensive-minded, so we’re committed to being aggressive,” Markieff, who totaled 13 points, three rebounds and as many assists, said. “That fell apart a little, but we regrouped because we’re a good team.”
“We’re a good team that can be much better,” Marcus, who scored four points to go along with an assist and three boards, added.
Having beaten the 76ers 115-101 Dec. 28, the Suns completed their first season sweep of the local players in four years, with the twins having played major roles in the unblemished endeavor.
“I’ve come to expect greatness from them,” Hornacek said. “Tonight was no different.”
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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