5 takeaways from Phoenix Suns loss to Philadelphia 76ers as Chris Paul leaves game with sore right heel

PHILADELPHIA — No Cam Johnson.

No Chris Paul for the second half.

No stopping Joel Embiid from getting to the line or Georges Niang knocking down a career-best seven from deep.

No way was Phoenix able overcome all that.

The Suns began a four-game road trip with a 100-88 loss to Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center. That's a season-low in points for Phoenix (7-3)

Embiid scored a game-high 33 points, going 16-of-16 from the line after missing three games while Niang went 7-of-10 from deep for the 76ers (5-6), who snapped a two-game skid.

The Suns lost Paul in the first half with a sore right heel as he didn’t play in the second half. They were already down Johnson, who suffered a right meniscus tear in Friday’s loss to Portland.

Devin Booker paced the Suns with 28 points.

Here are five takeaways from Monday's game as Phoenix will continue its four-game road trip Wednesday at Minnesota.

Paul heel update

He was trying to get around a screen from Paul Reed near the midway point of the second quarter and came up hobbling.

That’s when Paul hurt his right heel.

He came out of the game and didn’t return the second half.

“Trust me, if I could’ve played, I would have,” Paul said.

Paul doesn’t see this as a prolonged issue, though.

“Nah, I’m not that worried about it,” Paul said.

Paul sees this as just being cautious. The Suns may take that same approach and not play him in Wednesday’s matchup at Minnesota.

The longer he’s out, the more this will be a concern.

'Conditioning'

Cameron Payne isn’t too worried.

“I know C is going to be alright,” Payne said. “He’s going to be fine.”

The Suns can turn to Payne if Paul is out, but he just came back after missing two games with a sore left foot. With this being a foot injury, Payne was sitting and lost some of rhythm — and conditioning.

It was a struggle at times to find both Monday.

“I hurt the bottom of my foot,” said Payne, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, five assists and three turnovers in a season-high 28 minutes. “I haven’t been able to work out or run. Just my conditioning and especially coming back and playing more minutes than I’ve played all year."

Should be better Wednesday, right?

16-of-16 for Embiid, 2-of-2 for Ayton

Embiid has had his way with the Suns before, but it hasn’t resulted in recent wins for the Sixers.

Phoenix had won its previous six matchups against Philadelphia.

Embiid got the line at will with his size, ability to draw contact and sell the foul as well. He nearly fouled Phoenix’s bigs out as Jock Landale finished with five fouls and Ayton collected four.

The 76ers are without James Harden, who will miss extended time with a right foot tendon strain. So the Suns knew Embiid was going to really be the main focal point Monday.

So they went to a 1-2-2 zone.

Embiid found the smaller Mikal Bridges in his face up top, but found his way into the post as the game progressed and started a parade to the line.

Not sure Ayton will ever reach a point in which he’s going to the line as much as Embiid, but two free throw attempts aren’t enough, especially if he’s going to miss bunnies inside and only attempt 11 shots from the field.

'That was part of our game plan'

Suns coach Monty Williams didn’t think the Suns respected Niang in terms of the percentage of 3s the 76ers reserve attempts.

“I think 75% of his shots come from 3," Williams said.

Correct. Well, 74.5% to be exact.

That number will go up after Monday night.

Niang attempted 11 shots with 10 coming from 3 in scoring 21 points.

Williams said the Suns are a “shift team,” but thought they shifted off Niang too much.

However, Booker said the game plan was to get the ball out of Embiid’s hands.

Niang was the beneficiary of that as Embiid found him for three straight 3s in the fourth after Phoenix cut Philadelphia’s 19-point lead to four, 75-71, a minute into the quarter.

“Credit to Niang,” Booker said. “He hit his open shots. That was part of our game plan.”

Not enough from 3

The Suns came into Monday’s game averaging 33.3 attempts from 3.

They didn’t come close to that number against Philadelphia in going 6-of-19, which is a season low for attempt and makes.

Not having Johnson plays a huge role in that number.

He came into the game second on the team in 3-point attempts at 51 to Booker’s 57.

So the question now becomes who is going to shoot 3s to make up for the difference?

Booker could shoot more, but he’s the only one who really gets to the line off penetration. He went 11-of-14 Monday. The rest of the team was just 7-of-8.

Torrey Craig is having a career year from 3, hitting 40.9% of his 3s coming into the game. Hit his first 3 Monday, but proceeded to miss his last three from range.

Paul is shooting a career-low 27.3% on 3s.

Mikal Bridges is looking to attack more. Ayton can’t be asked to bomb away.

Damion Lee maybe? Came up huge from 3 against Dallas and Portland. He's now a ridiculous 14-of-30 from 3 to put him at a career-best 46.6%.

That's insane. Too insane to keep that up right?

The Suns are going to have to do it as a collective. In Saturday’s win, they got up 30, made 11 minus Johnson.

So Phoenix is capable, but can they consistently generate 3s with Johnson being out – and if Paul is sidelined for a few games?

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 5 takeaways from Suns loss to 76ers as Chris Paul injures right heel