Sixers Lose to Nuggets Backups in One of the Most Embarrassing Losses of the Season
Jan 5, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett (24) reacts to his three pointer in front of Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Sixers let a golden opportunity slip away tonight, when the Denver Nuggets, without their entire starting lineup, came into South Philly and shocked the Sixers in overtime, amidst inconsistent defense by the Sixers, and career games for several Nuggets players.
The 76ers came back home tonight after a 3-2 road trip to welcome in the decimated Nuggets. The Nuggets were without their MVP Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jamal Murray, along with many others, but that didn’t stop the Nuggets from getting out to a fast start, opening the game with an 11-2 run on the Sixers. The Sixers came back and matched the energy of the Nuggets, later in the first quarter, but the first quarter was defined by how well the undermanned Nuggets pushed the pace on the 76ers. You could almost feel the energy level of the Sixers going up as the quarter went on, but the early hole put them behind too early.
There was some question if Joel Embiid would play in the game, but he did, and in the second quarter, he made sure that everyone knew that he was there. He went back and forth trading buckets with Jalen Pickett in the first half. Pickett had 14 in the first half, and Embiid dropped in 15 points. Tyrese Maxey seemed to be in on every play and had 11 in the first half. The Nuggets just wouldn’t go away; they went into the half tied at 58.
The third quarter was a bit of a drag race, and the Sixers started to pull away, not just with the talent on the floor, but you could see the Nuggets players were starting to lose a bit of the bounce they had in the first half. As the third quarter went on, Peyton Watson started to shoot the ball, and his driving to the hoop was part of why the Nuggets stayed in the game in the third. He ended the quarter with 20 points. The Sixers allowed the Nuggets to claw back to start the fourth. After trading buckets, the Nuggets went on a 12-0 run and took a lead. Once the Nuggets took a lead, they held it until the 4th when VJ Edgecombe, who had been quiet all night, knocked down an incredibly clutch three, and on the Nuggets’ last possession of the 4th, Edgecombe locked up Pickett, making him take a terrible drive, and Paul George came up with a big-time block. The last possession for the Sixers ended up in the hands of Maxey, as it should. He dribbled to the front of the Sixers bench, when three defenders crashed in on him with 2 seconds left, and instead of getting space to get the ball to Edgecombe, who was to his left, he took an incredibly contested prayer three, and it missed. We are so spoiled by Maxey’s ability to do the impossible that it just felt like that was going in, even though it wasn’t the correct basketball play.
In the overtime period, the question was whether Denver would have the energy to keep up with the, and they just kept battling back, and somehow, with only 9 available players, beat the 76ers in Philly 125-124.
Embiid Went From Questionable to Leading the Way
Early today, it was questionable whether Embiid would play tonight, and without Jokic in the lineup, if you wanted to rest Embiid, this might be the opportunity. Nick Nurse had different plans, and it’s a good thing he did, because with the way that Denver used its athleticism to get to the hoop in the game, and without Embiid in the lineup, the Nuggets would have run wild on offense. If you want to see proof of that, Denver’s 4th quarter 12-0 run happened while Embiid was sitting on the bench.
Embiid was sitting because he did something he hadn’t done all season: he played the entirety of the third quarter. He was playing at full effort during the third quarter. He was excelling in all aspects of his game, including knocking down threes.
In the fourth, when he came back in to try and calm the Nuggets’ improbable run, he did have 2 very costly turnovers, but he made up for it with clogging the lane, and making the Nuggets work outside. In overtime, the Nuggets were doubling him, which helped to open up other players. Unfortunately, in the closing seconds of overtime, Bruce Brown was going the other way after a tipped shot, and on a layup in a bang-bang play, the ball hit the backboard, and Embiid touched it a fraction of a second later, and the goaltend is how the game ends. Hardly Embiid’s fault, in fact, I’m impressed with the effort frankly, but this is why having Embiid on the court is incredibly important.
Sixers’ Defense Couldn’t Stay in Front of Nuggets All Night
This game hinged on one thing: the Sixers were not staying in front of Pickett, Watson, and Zeke Nnaji early on. This is partly because the Sixers’ defense wasn’t moving their feet enough, and planting on the first move. This was the case in the first, and to start the 4th. The Nuggets were able to move by the perimeter defenders because of this, and made getting to the bucket so much easier.
In the first quarter, it looked like the Sixers expected the Nuggets to play conservatively because they only had 9 players, and the defense was particularly blown by far too easily. Because of the effort, the 50/50 plays were going to the Nuggets in the first, and the whole game, because they were playing with full effort. The Sixers recovered, but by the time they did, the Nuggets believed they could hang, and that belief definitely kept them playing hard. We can scrutinize the final play of the 4th, where Maxey held the dribble in front of a triple team, or the Embiid goaltending at the end of the overtime, but the defense at the start of the 1st and 4th is where this loss happened.
Edgecombe Came Alive in Clutch Time
Edgecombe was quiet up until the 4th quarter when he completely came alive, not just from the scoring perspective, but he was also all over the floor and on every play. All the way up to the end of the game, VJ’s fingerprints were all over the game.
He was the only person in the fourth to stop Pickett. That freed up Brown to do damage, but Nurse having Edgecombe shadow the other team’s top scorer in the fourth quarter and overtime shows how much faith Nurse has in Edgecombe’s defensive ability. Not to mention, he has the ability to jump out of the arena to make difficult clutch shots look routine.
When you watch VJ play, it’s easy to forget that he’s only 20 years old. Even on nights where shots aren’t falling early, he never gives up and does the little things well. The Sixers’ young backcourt is special, and every night they prove once again that the team has two pillars to build on. The future is safe with these two, and though nights like tonight happen, the great thing to see is that when things were not going his way, the rookie sensation kept his head up and kept playing hard.
Tonight is a loss that is hard to swallow and a massive missed opportunity. If you have a chance to play the Denver Nuggets and the entire starting 5 is in street clothes, you expect to win. The Denver reserves played out of their minds tonight, including a career high 29 for Pickett, 24 for Watson, and 21 from Nnaji. This is all on the Sixers’ lack of defense at the beginning of this game and at the start of the 4th. The effort was there, but the result was not. It’s easy to say they just had a great night. They did. But the Sixers let them.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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