Rookie Maxey dropped 39 points in the loss to Nuggets 115–103
Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 12 assists, Gary Harris scored 21 points to lead the Denver Nuggets past the short-handed Philadelphia 115–103 on Saturday, beating a team that had only seven players available to play.
‘’COVID created this but the concern is not COVID now,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “The concern is injuries.”
Ben Simmons (sore left knee) and Joel Embiid (back) sat due to injury. Seth Curry and Tobias Harris were kept out due to virus concerns. Mike Scott was out with injury and Forkan Korkmaz had a left adductor strain so he wasn’t available either. Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier didn’t play due to health and safety protocols.
It was the second consecutive loss for Philly, but despite the negative outcomes, they are still sorted in the first seed with record 7–3.
The first-round pick out of Kentucky, Tyrese Maxey had career-high minutes and points, scoring 39 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing the ball six times. He was 18 out of 33 from the field and three out of eight from deep in 44 minutes of playing time.
“I had to hunt my shot just a little more because it was needed,” Maxey said.
Danny Green was the only starter for the 76ers that played alongside Dwight Howard, Dakota Mathias, Joe and Maxey.
The 76ers will travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks but the absences will remain the same: Curry will miss five more games at least. Harris and reserves Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier could miss at least a week because of the protocols.
“We don’t know anything,” Rivers said. “I don’t know enough about any of this.’’