76ers vs. Nuggets: Worst defensive performance of the season sparks blowout
Today at 12:19 AM
The Philadelphia 76ers (15-27) wrapped up a road trip with a showdown against the Denver Nuggets (27-16). As they got Paul George and Guerschon Yabusele back in action, the Sixers got blown out in an embarrassing performance, losing their seventh straight game. Final score: 144-109.
Joel Embiid missed the opportunity to play in Denver for the fifth straight season. He only gets one chance a year to play against Nikola Jokic in Denver, so any idea that the injury-prone superstar center is "ducking" this matchup made little sense then and looks even more ridiculous in hindsight. In a league that has more ridiculous discourses that you can throw a basketball at, this is among the most absurd.
Speaking of absurd, this performance from the 76ers was just terrible. They did enough offensively to make the game somewhat competitive at times but they didn't play like they wanted to play, let alone win.
Making progress to a healthier lineup
George returned to the starting lineup while Yabusele came off the bench. It greatly helped the 76ers to get two of their biggest shooting threats and playmakers, taking the burden off of Maxey after some particularly tough offenses to lead without them (plus no Embiid or Jared McCain).
Early on, the 76ers started Andre Drummond against Jokic, running pick-and-rolls at the Nuggets superstar time and time again. He played higher up the level of screens on George than he did Maxey, perhaps a calculated decision to keep the speedier Maxey from darting past him and from keeping George from passing and shooting pull-up mid-range looks, areas where he is more adept.
George got pushed around on defense a few times and didn't assert himself enough to make the 76ers more competitive. He shot the ball really well, though he still did not drive into the paint very often, and most of his assists came on feeds for threes or rim attempts.
Yabusele hit the ground running in his return from his first absences of the season. He also hit plenty of shots, giving the Sixers a much-needed scoring punch off the bench. Defenses continue to underestimate his ability to dribble, resulting in a big baseline slam after a hard closeout. He ended the night with 22 points on 8-13 shooting.
The 76ers still miss plenty of players due to injury but having George and Yabusele back will return a sense of normalcy — or, at least what normalcy means in this monstrosity of a season.
Inexcusable lack of urgency
The Sixers got a few good looks out of those PnR sets but still fell behind early due to some brutal decision-making on offensive fast breaks and effort on defensive fast breaks. Once again, they just didn't get back on defense fast enough. Nearly seven minutes into the game, Denver had almost as many fast break points (13) as Philly had total points (14).
It’s insulting to this team’s desire to contend for a championship that things as simple as passing to teammates with a numbers advantage and getting back and matching up on defense fall by the wayside. There’s no excuse for this game being the finale of a road trip because they still had a day off and will have two more until their next game. There’s simply no excuse for the Sixers not to play as hard and smart as they can; that should never be optional, especially with the standings hole they're in.
Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the Nuggets are built perfectly for decimating teams that don't button up in transition. They have a genius playmaker looking over the defense to lead fast breaks for an array of strong, bouncy athletes and solid shooters. Christian Braun had plenty of runway space to get to the rim. Russell Westbrook picked the Sixers apart with ease, as did Jokic.
Sure, Denver is a great offensive team and without Embiid’s rim deterrence, having a good defensive game was going to be much harder for Philly. But allowing 100 points with just under 18 minutes left in game time is atrocious. That can't happen. When simply giving the proper amount of effort is too much, it puts into perspective how brutal this season is and how long it has felt. 40 more games of this team, even when Embiid comes back, could be brutally unfun to watch.
However, the Nuggets are also built to get beat the same way other teams beat them. The Sixers collectively didn't make it happen, though one of them was able to create at will.
Maxey on the money
No one exposed Denver’s weak defense like Maxey did, though it hardly mattered.
Maxey shredded the defense with speed and led a second-quarter run that brought the 76ers within five. After a strong performance against the Milwaukee Bucks, he carried that same rhythm on the plane from Cream City to the lands that sit a mile high, nothing a double-double with 28 points and 10 assists on 11-21 field-goal shooting.
Even if for only a pair of games, Maxey’s recent stretch of play has been encouraging. He’s seemed to balance the need to play within his means while also standing out enough to make him the straw that stirs the 76ers’ drink. The issue of his inefficient three-point shooting still lingers but he counteracted that with incredible shooting in the paint.
It’s hard to even point to Maxey’s performance as a silver lining because of how depressing the state of this team is. Any great stretch is bound to result in losses anyway. That might help Philly in the long run if it can keep its first-round pick but it’s not a guarantee. And that pick’s owner won't be determined until months from now.
The 76ers now have a few days off before starting a new back-to-back this weekend. Up first is a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. That should be fun.
The post 76ers vs. Nuggets: Worst defensive performance of the season sparks blowout appeared first on ClutchPoints.
