PHOENIX, Ariz. -- At crunch time Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers needed ball-handling in the worst way. Instead, they handled the ball in the worst way.

The Sixers, who had led the Phoenix Suns almost the entire first three quarters, killed themselves with five turnovers early in the final quarter. The Suns -- down 85-81 entering the fourth quarter -- took advantage by turning the game around.

They surged ahead 100-92 midway through the final quarter and went on to put up 42 points in the period en route to a 123-116-win.

Guard Eric Bledsoe led the Suns (9-21) with 24 points and 11 assists, including 16 points in the final quarter. Guard Devin Booker, running his double-digit scoring streak to 26 games, had 23 points. His 3-pointer with 3:05 left gave the Suns a decisive 112-100 lead.

Tyson Chandler had 15 points and 12 boards while T.J. Warren added 19 points.

For the Sixers (7-22), forward Joel Embiid had an impressive 27 points and seven boards for the Sixers (7-22), even though he was limited to 28 minutes by the team's medical and training staff.

"We are building this thing around him," coach Brett Brown said. "I have no problem saying that."

As for this game, "We just turned the ball over," Embiid said. "We took a lot of bad shots."

The Sixers are missing the two players expected to do the bulk of the ball-handling this season, point guard Jerryd Bayless (out for the season) and point forward Ben Simmons (out for an undetermined period).

Sergio Rodriguez, now the starting point guard, had 21 points for the 76ers. Forward Robert Covington added 16 points and forward Ersan Ilyasova added 14.

This was the Suns' largest comeback win of the season. They trailed by as many 14, 61-47 late in the first half.

And when they went into the locker room down 66-53, coach Earl Watson gave a tongue-lashing to what he called "the kid's show."

"This is the NBA; it's a man's league," Watson said. "You have to take ownership and accountability for defending one-on-one."

"He cussed us out," Bledsoe said. "We played like crap. He did what a great coach should do."

The Suns responded. "We were active getting deflections," Watson said. "It changed the game very quickly."

Booker said, "Offense comes very easy when we lock up defensively. That's been the story of our season. When we let the other team be the aggressor, we always look bad."

The win broke the Suns' four-game losing streak. They also now are 6-4 vs. Eastern teams.

The Sixers were starting a four-game Western trip; they don't play at home until Jan. 3 vs. Minnesota.

The Sixers led for most of the game; until their late surge, the Suns' biggest lead was two points (3-1) just moments after tipoff.

The Sixers rolled to a 31-24 lead heading into the second quarter as guard Gerald Henderson shot 3-for-3 and had seven points. Embiid, though he shot just 1-for-5, kept the Suns off balance by drawing four fouls and hitting 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

The Sixers expanded the lead to 66-53 at the half by shooting 14-for-21 from the field in the second quarter. They helped themselves by hitting 16-for-16 from the line in the first half compared to just 9-for-15 for the Suns.

But the Sixers went cold to start the second half, while the Suns hit four 3-pointers in a 16-2 run that put the Suns in front, 69-68. The Sixers pulled back in front 85-81 by the end of the third quarter, boosted by a pair of 3-pointers by Ilyasova.

NOTES: Suns G Devin Booker has scored in double figures 26 straight games, dating to Nov. 2. In his previous three games, he averaged 25.7 points and 5.0 assists. ... Suns C Tyson Chandler is putting up some of the best numbers of his career. He is averaging 11.5 rebounds, No. 7 in the NBA and the third-highest average of his career. He also is averaging a career-high 70.3 percent shooting from the field. ... The Sixers played without G Nik Stauskas (knee) and F Richaun Holmes (concussion protocol). ... The Sixers rank No. 4 in the NBA with 5.79 blocks per game. ... Sixers F Joel Embid is making a strong early chase for rookie of the year. He leads first-year players in scoring (17.9 per game), rebounds (7.4) and blocks (2.42). He has done so while averaging a modest 24.3 minutes per game.