The Denver Nuggets gave a valiant effort in the fourth quarter, to try and erase a 21 point first half deficit, but ultimately came up short, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers 105-98 on Tuesday night. Denver got off to a bad start once again, only scoring 12 points in the second quarter and continued to settle for perimeter shots on the offensive end.
The Nuggets only scored 26 points in the paint and took 31 three point attempts. The Nuggets started the game shooting well from three, going 6-7 but, shot 5-24 for the rest of the game. In the last six games, Denver has now shot 148 three point attempts and made only 49 of those attempts (33%). The Nuggets are now a terrible 5-16, when they attempt 25 threes or more in a game.
The Nuggets completely fell apart in the second quarter, getting outscored by Philly 27-12 and allowing them to go on a 20-7 run. The Nuggets consistently settled for perimeter shots on the offensive end during the quarter, while allowing the 76ers to get open looks from downtown with late rotations on the defensive end. Philadelphia, the worst offensive team in the league coming into this game, shot 44% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc.
The Sixers also out rebounded Denver 49-37 and held Kenneth Faried and Jusuf Nurkic, to a combined eight rebounds in the game. The Nuggets have now been out rebounded by a margin of 306-250 in the last six games, going 1-5 during this stretch. Denver also continued with their fouling ways, committing 29 fouls and allowing the 76ers to shoot 42 free throw attempts and score 32 points from the charity stripe.
The lone bright spot for the Nuggets, once again came in their second half play. Denver outscored Philly 58-44 in the second half and went on a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter, to cut the lead to five. Denver found success behind a line-up consisting of Jameer Nelson, Gary Harris, Alonzo Gee, Danilo Gallinari and JJ Hickson, who all played with much improved energy than Denver’s starters.
Gallinari scored a season high 22 points for the Nuggets off the bench, doing most of his damage from the free throw line (10-11) and carrying Denver down the stretch offensively. The Nuggets are now 19-30 overall and a very sub-par 7-17 on the road this season.
Denver takes on the Boston Celtics next, a team who already defeated them at home 100-99 back on January 23rd. Avery Bradley led the Celtics in scoring that game, with 18 points and hit two big shots to seal the win for Boston.
