By: Kylan Watson
After beating the Sacramento Kings, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Denver Nuggets for the final time in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. Both teams traded blows in this contest, but a late game scoring explosion by Nikola Jokic helped Denver beat Philly 137-134.
The Sixers once again started this game slowly and Denver took full advantage of the early power outage. Scoring points at will against Philly’s defenders who were out of position, and before Philly could even settle into the game they were down by nine points. They were able to settle down and mount a comeback powered by Tyrese Maxey (42 points), Guerschon Yabusele (28 points), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (27 points) who combined for 97 of the Sixers 134 points.
Yabusele kept the Sixers in this game as they were struggling to keep up with the Nuggets’ explosive offense. He had the answers using his strength and athleticism to put points on the board and keeping Philly within striking distance of the Nuggets. This was Yabusele’s best game as a 76er and with his play he continues to make the argument that he should be given a chance to see this season through. No matter how the season ends, at the end of it the Sixers need to throw the bag at him. He is the type of difference maker off the bench or starter that Philly has been missing.
Despite the offensive explosion from the Sixers trio, Denver was able to stay ahead of Philly throughout much of the contest. Nikola Jokic scored 28 points in this contest and when Denver needed him to take this game over, he did and powered his team to a victory over a game Sixers squad. It did not matter if the Sixers sent one defender at him or multiple he put points on the board or found the open man with his passing ability.
The Sixers had multiple opportunities to win this game and take it from the Nuggets, but they either turned the ball over, missed the clutch shot, or lost the 50/50 ball. Denver simply wanted this game more than the Sixers did and they cashed in on enough scoring opportunities to take this game from Philly.
Philly is trending in the right direction despite losing this game to Denver. They just could not get enough stops in the game to stay ahead of the Nuggets, their defensive effort left a lot to be desired. The Sixers cannot give up 137 points and expect to win games, they must figure out the communication on the defensive end. There were too many easy scoring opportunities for the Nuggets in which all it took was one pass and they got an easy dunk or lay-up. The Sixers are in desperate need of some reinforcements, and they should be getting it soon, depending on how practice goes tomorrow for Joel Embiid and Paul George. If all goes well tomorrow afternoon, they should be able to return sometime next week and getting those two back improves the Sixers’ chances of gaining more momentum before the All-Star Break.
Philly will now prepare to face the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. This is another opportunity for a statement victory for the Sixers, for that to happen they will need to limit their turnovers, either win the rebounding battle or keep it close, force the Celtics to take contested shots, and cash in on the high-percentage scoring opportunities created off their ball movement.
Implementing these things into their game plan for Sunday night should put the Sixers in great position to win their 20th game of the season.
