Philadelphia 76ers vs. Denver Nuggets

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Jan 21, 2025 - 21:49
Jan 21, 2025 - 21:52
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Philadelphia 76ers vs. Denver Nuggets
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Denver Nuggets score808

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It does not get much better than the visiting Philadelphia 76ers coming to town against the Denver Nuggets on January 21, 2025. Per usual, the Denver Nuggets are clicking on all cylinders with current MVP Nikola Jokic at the helm. Injury has laid terribly into them to date, and the 76ers are just finding themselves right in the middle of a six-game losing streak. That promises to be quite a significant encounter to be making out for both sides going into either continuing their streak or halting an unsavory run on the trot in the regular season calendar.

Read also: Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks: An In-Depth Game Preview and Key Storylines for January 21, 2025

Denver Nuggets: Form and Key Players

Denver Nuggets go into this match belting great streaks courtesy wins over Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. Winners of six of their last seven, the Nuggets are feeling pretty great right now, sitting fourth in the highly competitive Western Conference standings. The consistency is there with the Nuggets, who have seen all five starters playing huge factors into the team's success lately. None bigger than Nikola Jokic, of course, the back-to-back MVP still standing at an elite level. That includes averaging a triple-double over his last handful of games-a testament to how rounded a player he's been. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Orlando Magic 113-100 in which Jokic notched his 18th triple-double of the season with 18 points, complemented by 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

Of late, that had apparently been changing their fortunes when the addition of Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup produced wins for Denver from 16-21 when he joined the rotation. His presence gives them that added level of depth and nuance needed with an experienced leader and veteran among what was already a pretty deep roster. Guys like Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Christian Braun have chipped in with great performances at one time or another. But put Jokic into this lineup, and it becomes reasonably balanced and strong.

That's probably because it won't be top-seed level: the Oklahoma City Thunder will handle all of those affairs in front of the western conference. With their current makeup, no real harm should come to the playoff-bound Cavaliers. With high-caliber, star talent and sort-of-completeness on the rest of the roster, the Nuggets can have another good chance for a long run in playoffs. The next game is all about such momentum by beating up the mediocre low team 76ers in order to keep this perfect situation through this stage of the NBA.

Philadelphia 76ers: Break Through Injuries

It has been quite a terrible season so far for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nick Nurse-led group comes in on a six-game losing streak while being 15-26 in what has been quite an unsympathetic record so far. At this point in the season, they are nowhere near the playoff mix and would have to show some sort of miraculous turnaround to be there. Injuries have been a big factor, as they often are, and there were key players like Joel Embiid and Paul George who were out for quite a while through injury during the campaign. However, his absence has proved very painful for the 76ers because he is undeniably the most important man in the team and an MVP candidate every year.

Flashes of what Tyrese Maxey is capable of have still, of course, been there to see: he scored 37 points in the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks 109-95-high among the totals he has recorded this season. It doesn't help a team because this kind of individual brilliance has failed to hold consistency and defensive intensity throughout the game by the 76ers.

Such an injury to some key bigs including Embiid himself tossed them right into the deep. Guys like Tobias Harris and Kelly Oubre Jr. have held up okay, yet have done no good to stir affairs at Philadelphia. Every remaining query 76ers marks make fans deeper concerned as far as going big versus big on each assignment has players such as KJ Martin or Jared McCain included. Instead, this incompetence of the team in keeping performances constant and having bench depth has translated into poor performances and disappointing losses.

That will indeed not be easy for the 76ers on the road, but competing against one of the top teams in the West in the next matchup really does give them a golden opportunity. Lots of fire from Maxey on offense will be required in trying to pull this one off, with a bit of hope that the defense manages to put Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets stars under lock and key.

Matchups to Watch

Nikola Jokic vs. Philadelphia's Defense: Few players in the league are singular talents, more often than not on any given possession one of numerous high-level talents that ends with him capable of taking a game over several ways--whether just scoring or facilitating, rebounding, or making it very tough on others to guard him. It's an issue of Embiid off the court, which leaves the 76ers with an uphill battle in trying to slow down Jokic. The most plausible might be a team approach: team defense. That would include Paul Reed, Tobias Harris, and P.J. Tucker as main contributors. Even then, even the most sure of defensive showings mightn't keep down the Serbia center, as he's currently averaging a triple-double this season, nailing MVP-caliber figures.

Tyrese Maxey vs. Denver's Guard Rotation
The game of Tyrese Maxey has been the brightest of spots in what otherwise has been a desolate start of the season by the 76ers. A nice test in this matchup, as there's a lot challenging his personal game, but he can easily have a big night if the other guys in the cast can help roll some of the balance of the attack. Notably, the Denver guard rotation looks pretty solid with Jamal Murray-Russell Westbrook, but defensively, that pairing does soften; one in which Maxey could take over, no question, with his improvements in his bid to be unquestionably one figure of the 76ers offense. First, he has to get by this hard, aggressive perimeter defense Denver's showing him with Murray and Braun and others, as well, just to cause him some real problems because of the physicality on either side of the hardwood.

Denver Depth vs. Philly Bench
One of the more jarring contrasts that these two franchises have exposed this season is that of their depth. And it is what makes this Denver roster so deep. It's Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon helping round out the contribution around him, though. Huge in a lot of ways-the bits of success the Nuggets had through this season to holding down the fort when Jokic goes off. Not just the kind of consistent production that the 76ers have received off the bench all year. Meanwhile, the biggest question mark for the 76ers has been bench depth, which at times was a liability-mostly when the first unit needed to rest. That could be a big factor in this matchup.

Injuries and Impact on Lineups

As a matter of fact, this injury report does look pretty bad for the 76ers in this game. Adding to huge, long-time absences of Joel Embiid and Paul George, key role players like KJ Martin and Jared McCain are among many who may also join this sit-out list in the game. These will no doubt be massive losses in the area of both scoring and defense - indeed difficult to replace against certain quality teams such as Denver Nuggets.

Injury has ruled Vlatko Cancar and DaRon Holmes II out for the Nuggets- one of the deeper rosters in the league. Payton Watson should, in fact, be questioned due to an injury to his head, while the core, three-man combination for Denver to charge up into troops will bring Jokic, Murray, and Westbrook in active jerseys against the 76ers.

What to Expect from the Game

The Denver Nuggets will enter this game as clear-cut favorites against a 76ers team still nursing injuries. Huge confidence is oozing out with every passing game, and it seems like nothing is unbeatable for the Nuggets-from the art of Jokic to big reinforcements of guys like Westbrook among others, literally everything seems impossible to be defeated for this lineup-torn Philadelphia squad.

But at times, basketball can just get a little sideways, and where there's a guy like Tyrese Maxey around to just take over, the 76ers can indeed pose a problem for Denver. If he catches fire early in the game while a few others step up with him, it could be one of those "close" contests with 76ers in the mix. That's why this finally needs to be a game where the depth and star power of Denver simply become too much to overcome, but it might turn out to be one of those games that shows brilliance from Jokic while having grit from Maxey just to keep his team in the game.

Conclusion:

With that factored in, the Denver Nuggets enter as heavy favourites, and an injured Philadelphia 76ers are nearly impossible to pencil for keeping up with this current group consisting of the reigning MVP, but a pretty intriguing value does arrive in for Tyrese Maxey, and those things would like to tighten the things to closer ending for real. That one fortunate happenstance was all that really went right, and the 'W went the way of the 76ers. That will be the case in front of their home crowd at Ball Arena, with depth and overall strength making them the ones to beat.