Are you not entertained? The Denver Nuggets pulled off an incredible upset, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 125-124 in overtime despite Denver missing 7 rotation players, including all their starters. It was a complete bench game for Denver, and their young players responded with a complete-game effort plus some to get the win. Jalen Pickett led Denver with 29 points and 7 assists, Peyton Watson added 24 points and Zeke Nnaji came in off the bench with 21 and 8 boards. The Nuggets had 6 players in double figures and needed every point to take the win. No Jokic, or Murray, or Gordon or Braun or Johnson or Hardaway or Valanciunas? No problem.
The Sixers got 32 points and 10 rebounds from Joel Embiid, but his 6 turnovers hurt them late. Tyrese Maxey put in 28 points and VJ Edgecombe had 17 points on 17 shots, but the Sixers were strangely passive in this while Denver was often the aggressor and that got the Nuggets to the line more often. The Nuggets stayed away from silly fouls, played hard on defense, and managed to secure the win with a transition bucket off a block in the paint. It was an outstanding victory that the Nuggets desperately needed on this long road trip and injury-filled journey.
Game Flow
The Nuggets open the first quarter with a Spencer Jones hook off a DaRon Holmes pass, then turning Embiid over for a Spencer dunk. Paul George scored in the paint, and Spencer Jones went right back to the paint for free throws. VJ Edgecombe missed a 3, Jalen Pickett hit one over Embiid and Denver was up 8-2 early. Spencer hit a three, Embiid made an elbow jumper, but the next time down Embiid turned it over and Peyton made a driving finish. Embiid had a traditional three-point play, then after a Bruce Brown paint finish Embiid finished at the rim again. Dominick Barlow also finished inside as Denver struggled in the paint with the need to double Embiid. Holmes missed a three, Tyrese Maxey hit a floater, and Bruce Brown made a top-of-the-key three to keep Denver up 19-14. Embiid tipped in a miss as no one for Denver could keep him away from the rack, but Watson answered from the line after being fouled on a dunk attempt. Maxey and Watson exchanged threes, Holmes and Maxey then missed theirs, and Denver missed a few more shots until Jabari Walker and Tyrese Maxey got buckets for Philly to take the lead. Zeke Nnaji made free throws and an open three while Julian Strawther badly missed two free throws in the closing seconds, but Denver finished up 29-26 after one.
Quentin Grimes and Adem Bona scored quickly to tie the game in the second quarter, and Strawther missed another shot. Julian got himself back to the line and made a pair, but Paul George answered with a three. Nnaji hit his second three, then grabbed a rebound that finished in a Strawther drive. Hunter Tyson also hit a three that George answered as Denver stayed with Philly despite it all. Adem Bona made a layup to tie it at 39-39, before Jalen Pickett hit a 15-footer. Tyson got blocked at the rim, then missed a three and fouled Grimes to put him on the line in the span of about 30 seconds. Pickett and Jared McCain traded threes, then Holmes found Tyson in the corner for anther three. Maxey had a traditional three-point play to answer, and Embiid’s corner three put the Sixers up 49-46. Embiid made a pullup off a Pickett turnover, the teams exchanged missed threes, but a pair of made threes from Pickett put Denver back on top. Watson hit a deep 2, Holmes had a dunk, and Watson traded buckets with Maxey. At the buzzer, Grimes hit a three and the teams went into halftime tied at 58-58.
Barlow started the second half scoring with a corner three for the Sixers. Pickett hit a stepback three in return, then Embiid hit a three of his own. Pickett finished in the paint to top his career-high with 19 points a that point. Embiid made free throws (not a shock) and Watson hit a corner three to finish a Pickett assist. The refs started calling a bunch of fouls on Denver, but Pickett buried another 3, Paul George missed his, and Watson’s paint finish was answered by Edgecombe’s deep shot for his first made three of the night to cut Denver’s lead to 71-69. Zeke finished through an uncalled foul, VJ hit another three for Philly, and Watson fumbled a pass on his way to a dunk. Maxey and Bruce Brown traded buckets, Nnaji had a shot that should have been goaltending on Embiid but was instead called a block and Embiid went down the other end for free throws. Bruce Brown rebounded his own miss for a finish, and a couple of Watson turnovers really hurt as the Sixers scored in transition went up 7. Tyson got free throws for Denver, Embiid and Walker both tossed up paint shots for buckets, and Nnaji buried a three to slow down the Philly run. Zeke got to the free throw line, Edgecombe made a three, and Watson hit a floater to keep Denver in touch as the Nuggets trailed 93-87 after three.
Nnaji and Bona exchanged paint buckets to open the final frame. Maxey hit a three, Hunter had a traditional three-point play, and then Grimes and Jones traded scores. Strawther hit a nice finish, Pickett made an end-of-clock shot and Hunter Tyson had a terrific three through contact and made his free throw. Picket finished in the paint for a 12-0 Denver run and a 104-100 lead. Embiid made a couple of paint finishes, Watson made free throws, Grimes and Nnaji traded threes, and Maxey got to the free throw line again. Edgecome made another three, Zeke hit a tremendous jumper, and Bruce Brown picked up a Watson fumble for a paint finish. Grimes and Brown traded threes, Denver stripped Embiid in the paint, and Bruce got fouled shooting a three and made two-of-three free throws. Watson had an incredible block on Edgecombe but Denver couldn’t come up with the ball, and then Edgecombe made his next three-pointer. Pickett and Embiid traded turnovers, Bruce missed a deep three, and Maxey’s finish at the rim tied it at 120 with under a minute to go. Pickett got blocked in the paint by George, Maxey couldn’t hit while being guarded by Pickett, and the teams went to overtime.
Pickett made yet another three-pointer to start the overtime, Watson had a turnover and Embiid bullied his way inside on Watson for a bucket. Edgecombe blocked Bruce Brown but Philly turned it back over. Watson missed a shot but helped secure a defensive rebound the other way. Nnaji blocked Paul George in a wild first couple minutes, and Spencer Jones got called for a weak charge. Pickett shot an airball as neither team could figure out their offense in the extra period, until Edgecombe dunked hard to give Philly the 124-123 lead. Watson turned the ball over again for Denver, Maxey missed a three and the Sixers turned the ball back over. Neither team could figure out how to win this one, as Watson missed a tough shot, VJ missed his layup and Spencer Jones blocked Embiid and Bruce finally got the call for goaltending on Embiid with 5 seconds to go and Denver up 125-124. Philly tried for it, Maxey stumbled a bit on his finish and the ball bounced off the rim and the Nuggets won 125-124 in overtime.
Final Thoughts
-Standing ovation for every player. Denver only had 9 available players. It wasn’t quite the Magnificent Seven game in that respect, but let’s be honest: that game still had more star players than this one. This was a complete understudy game. None of the headliners were available, Denver was down 7 guys and had nobody over 6’9 available, and still competed in the rebounding battle against a Joel Embiid squad. Hunter Tyson had a four point play. Jalen Pickett made 7 threes. Peyton Watson was 8-of-10 from the line as the only marquee player for Philly to focus on and had 2 blocks. Bruce Brown had the leadership and scoring, especially his late finish to seal the win. Zeke Nnaji led the squad in rebounds with 8, hit four threes, and Denver’s trio of so-called bigs in Zeke, Spencer Jones and DaRon Holmes harassed Embiid all night, rendering him a non-factor in overtime and forcing him into 6 crucial turnovers. Adelman was masterful with judicious timeouts and pulling the string on his rotations just when guys were getting tired or wide-eyed to keep everyone focused. The use of man vs. zone was also incredibly well timed to keep Philly off-balance.
It was an outstanding night for everyone, and Denver’s much-maligned deep bench had a night to step into the spotlight and shine. Nobody choked, there was no running from the bright lights. The team had a chance to fold in overtime when the shots weren’t falling and instead they forced the Sixers into mistakes and misses, never dropping their guard. It was a matchup of a team on a three-game winning streak, with All-Stars and a ROY candidate, and some guys who had barely played together – and the pick-up squad bared their teeth and took the win. This was one of the best games and best wins all year, and an incredible palate cleanser for a battered squad. The Nuggets came together with whomever could pull a jersey on and got a terrific win. Bravo – and encore.
