Philadelphia 76ers limit the Denver Nuggets to a home loss 95-89 on Sunday
Rumor has it that Carmelo Anthony might be traded off to some other team due to his limited contract and lack of interest playing with the Nuggets. However the Nuggets are not in the least favor of giving him away. This was the third straight loss that the
Nuggets had after Anthony left them last week following the death of his sister Michelle Anthony on Tuesday.
In a nutshell
The Philadelphia 76ers played a grim fourth quarter game as they knocked out the Nuggets by cooling off their 12 point deficit and reeling out a 94-89 victory against them Sunday night.
Philadelphia 76ers (12-18)
The Sixers had 67 points coming from the starters and 28 from players off the bench.
Jrue Holiday had team high 22 points, Thaddeus Young scored 20 points, Jodie Meeks added 17 and Elton Brand contributed 16 points to the Sixers’ box score. They grabbed 14 team rebounds.
Denver Nuggets (16-13)
The starters came out with 60 points for the Nuggets whereas 29 were scored by players off the bench.
Chauncey Billups had game high 24 points, Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo contributed 14 each, Nene added 13 and Josh Smith had nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Nuggets. The Nuggets had just three team rebounds.
Arena stats and scoring
The arena was thundering with boos of disapproval and cheers of encouragement as both the teams stood there trouncing each other for a duration of 2 hours and 22 minutes. The lead changed six times and the game was tied five times.
Quote it!
"It's not a time to get negative. We've played three really close games, we haven't won. And we could have won all three games." Perhaps that’s real sportsmanship spirit Mr. George Karl (Nuggets coach).
Turning point
As Afflalo made a short jumper, it seemed like the Nuggets might take their lead till the end, they led the Sixers by 86-85 with just 3:03 left in game. When the same shot was reviewed by the officials, it turned out that he had not beat the shot clock and
after that point the Sixers never let the lead go out of their hands.
Elton Brand was a little aggravated as he later said about the opponents’ shot clock violation, "That was huge. It was a tight game and Andre (Iguodala) had played great defense on that play.”
Well played Billups
Billups played a wonderful game trying to fill in for Anthony. He shot well from the floor and went 6 for 11 during his 35 minutes of play. He scored 30 points on Christmas’s game on Saturday and this time he had 25 against the Sixers.
Not sure if you made it Iguodala
Although he showed strong defense against Billups in the fourth quarter of the game but one of the players who had much trouble in shooting during the game was Iguodala. He went 3 for 12 against the Nuggets and was 3 for 10 from the foul line; thanks to
him that he somehow grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists for the Nuggets.
More to watch
For Philadelphia, Monday @ Golden State, Friday @ L.A. Lakers, Monday, Jan. 3, @ New Orleans.
For Denver, Tuesday vs. Portland, Wednesday @ Minnesota, Saturday vs. Sacramento.
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