Sixers

Instant Observations: 76ers Lose Tight Game to Nuggets Despite Another Dominant Maxey Performance

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If you like offensive basketball, this was the game for you. The Philadelphia 76ers nearly came away with yet another victory, although they ultimately fell to the Denver Nuggets 137-134.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 42 points, nine assists and two steals. Guerschon Yabusele scored a career-high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Sixers continued to have a lengthy injury report, headlined by Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left finger extensor tendon injury). Head coach Nick Nurse, via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports, expects to have more clarity about when Embiid and George will return after the team practices on Saturday. Caleb Martin remained out with a right hip sprain, with Nurse telling reporters, via Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice, Martin is still having issues changing direction. Jared McCain (left knee meniscus surgery), KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction) and Andre Drummond (left toe injury recovery) round out the inactive list for the Sixers.

Nikola Jokic finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray totaled 31 points, six boards and 11 assists.DaRon Holmes II (right Achilles tendon repair) and Vlatko Cancar (left knee surgery rehabilitation) were the only players out for Denver.

The Sixers continue their six-game home stand on Sunday with a matchup against the Boston Celtics. Here are some instant observations from the tight loss to the Nuggets:

Likes:

– Judging from the opening few minutes, it looked like Maxey was going to struggle against the Nuggets. He committed three early turnovers and was unable to get much going offensively. However, he caught fire coming out of a Nurse timeout and continued his hot play of late. He took advantage of some bad perimeter defense from Denver, leading to a couple wide open 3-pointers Maxey easily cashed in on. After using his jumper to get into rhythm, Maxey started using his speed to cut into the paint. On one possession, he used a crafty spin move to get by his defender and finish the play with a bucket at the rim. He finished the first quarter with a team-leading 13 points.

With all of Denver’s defensive attention on him, Maxey continued to find ways to score. His success from beyond the arc earlier in the game completely opened up the rest of his scoring arsenal. With the game on the line, Maxey turned to his speed and finishing ability to carry the Sixers’ offense in the fourth quarter. He turned things up a notch in the final minutes, going on a personal 8-0 run to give the Sixers a three-point lead with 2:20 remaining.

While it was not enough to get the Sixers the win, Maxey continued his recent stretch of dominant play. He might have missed out on being named an All-Star this season, but Maxey remains one of the top ascending stars in the league.

– For as good a game as Jokic had offensively, he was equally atrocious on the other end of the floor. Yabusele was the beneficiary of Jokic’s brutal effort defensively. He knocked down multiple 3-pointers which were so wide open they nearly reflected a pre-game warmup shot. The French native also made a handful of shots in the paint, including the dunk seen on the first play in the video package below.

After tying his career-high in points (22) in the first matchup against the Nuggets back on Jan. 21, Yabusele followed it up with an even better performance in the second go-round. Most of his production in the first half came from beyond the arc. It was a completely different story in the second half. Yabusele went to work from inside the arc, scoring multiple buckets using a mixture of floaters, layups and dunks. His alley-oop slam off a beautiful spin move and pass from Justin Edwards absolutely set the Wells Fargo Center crowd ablaze.

It took Yabusele less than three quarters to set a new career-high in points. His future in Philadelphia has been up in the air heading into the Feb. 6 trade deadline. If the Sixers do end up selling Yabusele, his performance against the Nuggets will undoubtedly raise the price for any opposing team interested in making a deal. However, with the way the Sixers have been playing over the last week or so, trading away one of their best and most available players seems unlikely.

– Oubre Jr. deserves a ton of credit for the way he has played this season, particularly over the last couple weeks. He has often made his presence felt through attacking the glass. However, his main impact against the Nuggets came as a scorer. Oubre carved up Denver’s defense largely through scoring around the rim. He relentlessly attacked the basket, punishing Denver for their weak defense. Oubre was rewarded for his efforts either by scoring at the basket or through trips to the free-throw line.

Eric Gordon came into this contest shooting a ridiculous 50.7% from 3-point range over his last 16 games. Gordon’s outside shooting has been a godsend for a Sixers team ranking in the bottom third of the league in 3-point percentage. While he had a quiet game against the Nuggets, his recent hot outside shooting carried over to the rest of the Sixers roster. The Sixers kept pace with Denver largely through jacking up a lot of 3-pointers. Unlike most games this season, Philadelphia found a ton of success from the perimeter. They exceeded their average made 3-pointers per contest (12.6) in the first half alone, draining 13 by halftime. The Sixers finished the game with 21 made 3-pointers.

Dislikes:

– The Sixers’ defense predictably struggled against the Nuggets. With both Embiid and Drummond out of the lineup, the Nuggets possessed a huge size advantage. The Sixers were forced to defend Jokic, one of the best players in the league, with Yabusele and a mixture of different looks. While Yabusele is having a great season, he is playing out of position as a center. He had no chance to successfully defend Jokic, who has a three inch size advantage.

Jokic carved up the Sixers’ defense to the tune of nearly recording a triple-double at halftime. When he was not using his size advantage to score easy baskets in the paint, Jokic showcased his top-end playmaking abilities. The Nuggets made a killing from scoring on off-ball cuts as most of the Sixers’ defensive attention was on how to stop Jokic.

The Sixers were great offensively, but their tremendous production was offset by allowing Denver to shoot 65.9% from the field. When you allow the opponent to shoot with that level of efficiency, it is nearly impossible to come away with a victory.