Ehe base Tyrese Maxey, faced with the loss of Australian All-Star Ben Simmons, has emerged as the surprise factor for the Philadelphia Sixers, who on Thursday beat the Denver Nuggets 89-103 on the road.
Maxey scored 22 points, guard Seth Curry added 20 and the Sixers snapped a five-game losing streak.
The decimated Sixers, who remained without Cameroonian pvot Joel Embiid and three other regulars, found a way to limit Serbian pvot Nikola Jokic to three points in the second half of the game and regained the winning path.
Embiid missed his sixth game in a row after entering the NBA’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols. Embiid’s absence ended a showdown between the top two vote winners for last season’s NBA MVP.
Philadelphia, which also scored 17 points from Tobias Harris, also ran out of Matisse Thybulle (health and safety protocols) and Danny Green (left hamstring). And there has been no resolution with Simmons (personal reasons), who has requested to be traded.
Frustration in the Nuggets game led to their coach Michael Malone being sent off in the third period when he faced the umpires as he entered the field and had to be controlled by Jokic.
The Nuggets’ All-Star pvot, although he had a double-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before also leaving the field at the end of the fourth period, could not avoid the surprise defeat of the Denver team, which was the second. consecutive.
Last season’s MVP award winner was paired with veteran pvot Andre Drummond and Charles Bassey. And although Jokic dominated in the first half with 27 points, he received little help.
Forward Barton returned from a back injury to finish with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the second-best player for the Nuggets who have a 9-6 winning record and lost the second game at home.
While the Argentine base Facundo Campazzo played eight minutes as a reserve with the Nuggets and contributed two points after failing the three field goals he made – all three-point attempts – but he hit 2-2 from the personnel line.
The former Real Madrid player had a presence in the paint by capturing three rebounds -defensive- and gave an assist.
The Nuggets shot 36% from the field in their second straight loss after a five-game winning streak.
