By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Sixers fought hard in their matchup against the Suns on Tuesday, despite being without any of their original five starters. The second unit stepped up today and gave the Suns a run for their money, but in the end it wasn't enough. Phoenix would pull away in the fourth and win by a final score of 130-117. Here are some takeaways from the matchup.
Wing players finding the range from deep
Three-point shooting has been a weak point of the Sixers' offense all year. With the playoffs right around the corner, the Sixers floor spacers off the bench needed a game like this to get their shots in rhythm. There were plenty of shots to go around and the Sixers' wings made the most of it.
Glenn Robinson III, Furkan Korkmaz, and Mike Scott are all potential floor spacers that could work their way into the rotation come playoffs. In the game against the Suns, all three of those players stepped up and shot well from deep. The trio knocked down nine of the Sixers' 15 made three-point shots in the game.
When Joel Embiid returns to the court he is going to need shooting around him. Seeing the team be able to knock down shots from deep at a good rate was a good sign in this one and hopefully continues moving forward.
Tight defense on Devin Booker
Although it wouldn't look it based on his stat line, the Sixers did a good job defending Devin Booker in this game. Matisse Thybulle and Glenn Robinson III took on most of the time and played well against him. They did a great job frustrating him in the first half, making him earn every basket.
With Ben Simmons out with injury, the Sixers are going to need players to step up on defense. After this game, it looks like Thybulle and Robinson III are willing to take on the challenge. Seeing the way they were able to defend was a big positive as the Sixers get ready to face off against Boston or Miami in the first round of the playoffs, who have multiple wing threats.
Alec Burks stays hot
With the Sixers being without all of their main pieces tonight scoring was going to have to come from somewhere. Alec Burks has been huge for the Sixers off the bench in recent games and had another 20+ point performance in this one. He would start for the Sixers and finish the game as the team's leading scorer with 23 points.
After his performances in the last few games, it looks like he has locked in his spot in the rotation. Come playoffs I would be very shocked if he is not the Sixers' sixth man. He has shown he can be a big scoring threat off the bench and work well when running with the starters.
His ability to operate in the pick and roll opens up a lot of options when running it with Embiid or Horford. If he can continue to score at this high rate at the next stage it will be a huge boost for the Sixers' second unit.
