Preview: The Denver Nuggets host the Embiid-less Sixers

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Philadelphia 76ers are going to Denver to face the Nuggets, but won’t have Joel Embiid in the lineup. Unfortunately for fans hoping to see Embiid and Jokic meet in the Mile High, it won’t happen as it hasn’t happened since 2019. Embiid is out with knee swelling after an ankle injury kept him off the court for several games earlier, and he’s not the only player who pitched or was missing entirely from the Sixers’ lineup as the short-handed Sixers have lost six in a row. Denver is still nursing some injuries, but they should have a full complement of rotation players available and it will be up to them to take this game seriously and hand the battered Sixers a loss as the Nuggets look to keep the streak from their fast Florida -way. ride rolling at home.

The essential

WHO: Philadelphia 76ers (15-26) vs Denver Nuggets (26-16)

When: 20:00 MST

Where: Ball Arena, Denver CO

How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs do not tolerate piracy. TNT. Altitude 92.5 FM. Show up with balloons of sadness because Embiid is missing another game in Denver.

Rival Blog: Liberty Ballers

Damage report: Jamal Murray – probable (calf tightness), Peyton Watson – probable (head contusion), Vlatko Cancar – out (worst luck ever and also knee surgery), DaRon Holmes II – out (Achilles); Paul George – Questionable (groin), Guerschon Yabusele – Questionable (knee), Andre Drummond – Questionable (toe), Joel Embiid – Out (knee), Caleb Martin – Out (hip), Kyle Lowry – Out (hip), KJ Martin – out (foot)

The three things

Things to watch out for: What is Philly’s plan to stop Denver?

Embiid isn’t ducking Denver — his legs just can’t handle an NBA schedule. But without Embiid, Philly loses a key component to match Nikola Jokic’s size and skills inside. Adem Bona is a nice rookie, but he struck out 24 minutes against Giannis in Philly’s blowout loss to the Bucks, and Jokic is no easy task. Drummond is questionable with a toe problem, nor that he can properly defend Jokic, but his size and ability on the boards have given Denver reserves problems in the past. Gershon Yabusele, another strong frontcourt player, is hampered by a knee problem.

All those guys combined will be several straw houses trying to withstand the big bad wolf if Jokic lines up on the block with the mentality to score and assuming his elbow is better, there’s no real reason to assume that he doesn’t want to. Jamal Murray is confused, and since he had to chase Maxey around this, this is a good excuse for the Nuggets to put their MVP strength against the glaring gap in Philadelphia’s defensive options. Jokic has a pair of triple-doubles in just three quarters this week – hard to see him not taking a swing at a third.

Things to remember: Tyrese Maxey will be a tough stop

Denver has played down to injured competition before (New Orleans anyone?), so it’s important to keep the Sixers away from what they do well. Philadelphia will be on its third road game in four nights, and ending that streak a mile high gives Denver a big advantage if they are willing to play defense and run in transition like they have been. Breaking teams up high is fun, but Maxey is the kind of speedy guard with a scoring touch that gives Denver fits without KCP around. Christian Braun and Peyton Watson have defensive ability, but staying in front of the slashing scorer is unfortunately not on the menu, and Russell Westbrook is “42 years old,” as coach Michael Malone gently ribbed the other night in the locker room. The key to stopping the Sixers is for Denver to get off to a good start themselves and not let the Sixers go downhill against them. Philadelphia is good to get to the line after being defeated en route to the bracket. They don’t pass, they don’t rebound, they don’t have a shot blocker, and they aren’t a high-powered offense. They don’t shoot threes and when they do, they’re bad at it, and it’s been really tough for them lately with all the bodies missing to get any kind of consistency.

If the Nuggets shut down Maxey and don’t commit shooters, they should be able to salt away this game and keep climbing the spots in the West.

What to bet: Jokish triple-double

The spread is -13.5 – everyone expects the Nuggets to wipe out this short-handed Philly team. To be fair, every win the Nuggets have had since before Christmas has been by double digits, so they’ve wiped out a lot of people when Jokic is out there. The under on the game is 229.5, and with Philly’s struggles on offense, it seems legit, but Denver can come up with 130 again on their own – they’ve been boat racers. So just put some money on another Jokic triple-double, it’s more fun and we all like history.