76ers at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are losers of seven straight games but fought hard against the defending champion Miami Heat on Monday and came away feeling better about the team moving forward. The Philadelphia 76ers, who visit the Nuggets on Wednesday, earned a rare road victory last time out but could be just the team to get the Nuggets’ offense back on track. The 76ers are last in the NBA in scoring defense and have surrendered at least 104 points in eight straight.
Denver has been held under 100 points in each of its last seven games but got it down to the last possession before falling to the Heat 97-94. “A valiant effort from our guys,” coach Brian Shaw said. “I think if we play with that kind of passion and that kind of intensity we’ll win more game than we lose.” Shaw had been concerned about his team’s effort level after a 120-99 loss at Memphis on Saturday. The Nuggets, who went 38-3 at home last season, are trying to snap a four-game home losing streak.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (9-21): Philadelphia picked up its first road win since Nov. 1 with a 111-104 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the third of a six-game road trip. “We’ve said all along that wins, from time to time, help validate the work that everybody’s put in,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “Sometimes you just keep hammering the rock hoping it’s going to split, and (Sunday) it split.” The defense may be struggling but the offense is usually up to the task behind forward Thaddeus Young, who has scored at least 25 points in each of the last four contests and is averaging 8.8 rebounds in that span.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (14-16): Ty Lawson is breaking out of a shooting slump and went 8-for-15 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range against the Heat, eclipsing his total of made 3-pointers from the previous eight contests. “It was a lot better,” Lawson said of the team’s effort against the Heat. “We made it a game. It was close. We just didn’t make the necessary stops down the road to win the game.” Denver has not lost eight in a row since the closing stretch of the 2002-03 season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets claimed a 103-92 win in Philadelphia on Dec. 7 behind 20 points off the bench from Nate Robinson.
2. Young was held to 14 points in the Dec. 7 meeting, matching his lowest total in the last 10 games.
3. Denver F J.J. Hickson has posted a double-double in two of the last three games and five of the last eight.