Denver Nuggets Travel to Philadelphia to Face 76ers
The Denver Nuggets travel to Philadelphia to face the NBA worst Philadelphia 76ers in a Saturday afternoon tilt.
The Denver Nuggets are coming off one of the biggest victories of the season this past Thursday, as they snapped their 8-game losing streak to beat the Toronto Raptors on the road, 106-105. Will Barton led the Nuggets in scoring with 22 points coming off the bench, while Darrell Arthur added 19 points as well.Center Joffrey Lauvergne made his return to the starting lineup and put up good numbers, scoring 14 points on 6-9 and securing 10 rebounds.
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At 7-13, the Denver Nuggets currently stand outside of the Western Conference Playoff picture, but are only 2 games behind the 8th seed Houston Rockets. If the Nuggets can put together a good stretch of games over the next week, it is feasible that they could find themselves in the thick of the Western Conference Playoff race in the near future — if they can sustain the level of play that they demonstrated on Thursday in Toronto.
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The Philadelphia 76ers currently hold the worst record in the NBA at 1-19, and are coming off a loss this past Wednesday night to the New York Knicks. Entering Saturday afternoon’s tilt, the 76ers currently hold a 3-game winning streak over the Denver Nuggets going back to New Years Day in 2014 — their longest current win streak against any NBA team.
Rookie center Jahlil Okafor is making his impact felt for the 76ers, leading the club in scoring at 17.2 points per contest, while shooting 46 percent from the field. NBA Sophomore Nerlens Noel is currently averaging 10.1 points per game and averaging 8.9 boards per contest. These are trying times for Head Coach Ben Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers who are in the midst of a full rebuild. At 1-19, the Philadelphia 76ers are a desperate team, and owning a 3-game winning streak over the Denver Nuggets, may make them more dangerous.
Emmanuel Mudiay has not played well as of late, and is averaging 11 points per game and is shooting only 31 percent from the field. Over his last two games, Mudiay is shooting only 18 percent from the field, while averaging only 4.5 points per game. Even though he is a rookie, Mudiay must step up his game — especially against a team like the 76ers are trying to find their footing.
Next: Denver Nuggets Grind Out Gutsy Win in Toronto, 106-105
If Danilo Gallinari can secure 15+ points, and Kenneth Faried can offset the interior presence of Nerlens Noel, the Denver Nuggets stand a very good chance of snapping their losing streak to the 76ers and making it two wins in a row on the road. Saturday’s game concludes a long 5-game road trip for the Denver Nuggets, which they can punctuate with a road victory in Philadelphia. Tip-off is at 11:00 AM.