DENVER — — Playing without their anchor Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers stormed to Denver and gave the defending champions a tough fight.
In the end, though, the valiant effort fell short as the Nuggets went on to win, 111-105, at The Ball Arena.
Nikola Jokic, who missed out on a duel with his MVP rival, showed the way for Denver with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Jamal Murray had 23 points and 7 assists while Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for 26.
Minus Embiid, who was advised by the medical staff to rest a balky left knee, Philadelphia got 30 points for Paul Reed and 17 apiece from Marcus Morris Jr and Patrick Beverley.
“He really wanted to play, and the medical team did not deem him fit to play today,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “That’s too bad for those fans. That’s too bad.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone did not hide his displeasure over Embiid’s late game-time scratch.
“We found out very late and again, I don’t know how you go from being active/available to out,” Malone said.
“I’m sure the league will do their due diligence because that’s frowned upon. We’ve had situations this year where we’ve talked to the league and they told us if a player goes from being active to out, there’s going to be an investigation.”
Embiid wasn’t the only injured player for the SixersTyrese Maxey (ankle), Tobias Harris (illness) and Mo Bamba (knee) also did not play.
Jokic chose not to dwell on Embiid’s absence and chose instead to give props to a fellow All-Star and worthy adversary.“He’s putting history right now in front of our eyes, and he’s making it look so easy,” Jokic said.
Embiid is averaging 36 points and 11.4 rebounds this season and Malone said he is “unguardable.”
