The Denver Nuggets are reeling and navigating a variety of injuries, and things won’t get any easier when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
The Nuggets are coming off Sunday’s 127-115 loss to the Brooklyn Nets as they dropped to 1-4 on their seven-game road trip. They continued to play without star center Nikola Jokic, who sustained a hyperextended left knee earlier on the trip, as well as forward Cameron Johnson (right knee contusion) and center Jonas Valanciunas (right calf strain).
On the bright side, Denver welcomed back two starters – forward Aaron Gordon and guard Christian Braun — following lengthy injury absences. Braun started Sunday and scored three points in 24 minutes, while Gordon came off the bench and had 20 points in a 21-minute run.
“We can have all these excuses about guys just getting back, the rotation’s different, all that crap, but the bottom line is we were not ready to play,” said Nuggets coach David Adelman.
Denver gave up 33 points in the first quarter and the situation never got much better as the team fell to 3-6 in its last nine games. On the night, the Nuggets allowed the Nets to shoot 50.6% (41 of 81) from the floor and 42.4% (14 of 33) from long range.
“Our energy was lackluster, embarrassing, to start this game,” Adelman said. “I thought we picked it up as it went, but the game was out of control at that point. … You can’t come out with an unprofessional approach.”
Adelman wouldn’t commit to playing standout guard Jamal Murray in Monday’s contest. Murray played 40 minutes on Sunday, recording 27 points and 16 assists.
“We have to take a serious look at tomorrow,” Adelman said. “Make sure we’re taking care of our guys the right way.”
Speaking of major minutes, Philadelphia guard Tyrese Maxey is averaging 39.8 minutes — by far the highest figure in the league — and comes in averaging 31.1 points per contest. He scored 36 points in 37 minutes in Saturday’s 130-119 road win over the New York Knicks.
“He obviously hit a bunch of huge shots,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “Even when we got in a little bit of an offensive low, he seemed to come up with a huge three to spark us a little bit.”
Joel Embiid and rookie VJ Edgecombe contributed 26 points apiece for the Sixers, who won the final three games of their five-game road trip. Edgecombe has scored at least 23 points in each game during the current winning streak, while Embiid has reached at least 22 points in each of his last seven games.
Embiid dunked in the waning seconds against New York, marking his first slam of the season. He has two double-doubles in his last three games, but he also continues to struggle with his 3-point shooting (9 of 50 since the start of November).
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Nurse said about his squad. “We’re still digging out of the hole we were in at the start of the season. There’s still conditioning, rhythm, health to get a little better, and we just build on that.”
The Nuggets have won their last three meetings with the Sixers. This is the first matchup between the teams this season.
