Best and Worst awards: Sixers vs. Suns

PHOENIX – My look at some of the best and worst performances from the 76ers' 111-104 victory over the  Phoenix Suns Saturday night  at  Talking Stick Resort Arena:

Best performance: This was a tough one. Make that an extremely tough one. But I had to give this to Ish Smith despite Isaiah Canaan finishing with game highs of 22 points and four three-pointers. Smith is the one who led the Sixers to victory in his first after being reacquired in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. The 6-foot point guard finished with 14 points on just 6 of 15 shooting to go with five assists. However, he ran the offense well, finding his teammates for easy baskets. He also scored six fourth-quarter points with his last two coming after the Suns went on a 5-0 run to close the gap to 106-100 with 2 minutes, 57 seconds left.

Worst performance: This has to go to Robert Covington. The Sixers small forward missed all seven of his field-goal attempts en route to being held scoreless. He also finished with two turnovers, a steal and four rebounds in 12:54 minutes. He only played 1:18 of the third quarter and was benched in the fourth.

Best defensive performance: This award goes to Nerlens Noel. The power forward got the start at center with Jahlil Okafor missing the game at with a sore right knee. After today, the Sixers might want to consider keeping him there and moving Okafor to power forward.  Noel finished with a game-high two blocks, altered several other shots and had a co-game-high three steals.  He also shot 6-for-7 to finish with 14 points to go with a game-high 11 rebounds..

Best performance in a losing effort: Devin Booker wins this award. The Suns reserve guard finished with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He made 3 of 4 three-pointers.

Worst statistic: You have to give this to the Sixers' turnovers, once again. They committed 22.

Best statistic: This award goes to the Nik Stauskas' three-point shooting. The Sixers reserve guard made 3 of 4.

Contact and follow Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers