RealGM

Heard Embiid may not play, gotta case of the runs. Will be interesting to see how this BIG 4 plays.

Milsap out, Embiid in...Not ideal when trying not to lose 3 straight

When the Nuggets play an active, moving offense and an active, aggressive defense - they can beat anyone, when they don't play an active game - they can lose to anyone.

Finally some great 2nd quarter we played in 2019, but thanks to the weak 1st quarter result are tied on halftime. I usually complain about Malone playing time distribution, but this time all 5 starters played 17+ minutes in 1st half, which is exactly what we need when 2 starters are out. Ironically, seems that if we lose this game, the reason will not be new Sixers big-4 but their 5th starter, veteran JJ Reddick.

Good game despite the loss. The team showed the fighting spirit vs elite opponent on the road even when Sixers lead +16 during the 2nd quarter, which is nice to see. Except for Jokic as usual with new 27-10-10 triple-double, several other Nuggets players have a notable all-around game today (14-8-7 Barton, 10-8-6 Plumlee, 23-5-6 Murray, 13-4-5 Lyles). Talking about Jokic another TD, that last minute subs from Malone were really unnecessarily, not because Joker needed only one rebound for TD but because what is the sense sit down Jokic with 2xPF and hold Plumlee with 5xPF, so Plumlee was fouled out very soon and Jokic is back (and make TD).

Redick was tonight X-Factor for Sixers with season-high 34 points and 11-15 fg which killed us... he shots today 6-7 for 3pt while whole Denver team has 6-26.

Tonight not having Harris killed us, he guards Redick as well as anybody, and it was obvious tonight that we don't have anybody else that can capably do it.

I am already tired of hearing how Embiid was sick, if he was that sick than there is no way he plays. Having the runs all day they would be risking the risk of dehydration quickly trying to play a game.

Not much else to say, they have 4 great players and a 5th very good one, our bench was off and it cost us the game.

Name the best 6'10" player that can cover Reddick: {I'll give you a hint, it is not Hernangomez}. That was a ridiculous matchup.

The only Nugget that had a rough night shooting was Barton and he added 8 rebounds & 7 assists. We also didn't get the free throw line very often (usually indicates not enough movement) and our 3 pt shooting was horrible

The only Sixer that had a rough night shooting was Embiid and he added 12 rounds & 4 blocks.

Seems like the game was lost on the defensive end. We did have a few minutes of nice defense in the 2nd quarter, but that's about it.

Kind of tired of this team never learning. Reddick and Butler always usually have historic games against us and they did again. They don't do this against any other NBA team. Why the hell do we refuse to learn?

eathb_au wrote:Kind of tired of this team never learning. Reddick and Butler always usually have historic games against us and they did again. They don't do this against any other NBA team. Why the hell do we refuse to learn?

There’s a learning curve one experiences as he grows up. The brains of the core players on our squad aren’t even fully developed yet. (Brain fully develops around age 25) Our oldest core player, Gary Harris, is still only 24. This recent slump has been frustrating but our defensive ceiling is almost as high as our offensive ability right now. Malik and Monte continue to grow defensively every game they play and Malik is providing much needed wing help on the bench. The only thing this team needs to do is step up defensively when our anchors are out. We don’t need to be the best defensively but we sure as hell should be able to hold our own. As for Reddick? He’s still one of the best shooters in the NBA and when he gets hot, he’s almost as dangerous as Klay or Steph. I don’t mind being torched by him in a regular season game, after all it was Philly’s first game with their new core piece and arguably their second best offensive threat, Tobias Harris.

eathb_au wrote:Kind of tired of this team never learning. Reddick and Butler always usually have historic games against us and they did again. They don't do this against any other NBA team. Why the hell do we refuse to learn?

"They don't do this against any other NBA team." That's like saying "the greatest player of all time" when you can't remember past the last 10 seasons. Or it's like saying, "My keys were in the last place I looked."

I'd need some stats to make believe they never do this against any other NBA team.