It hasn't been easy sledding for the Sixers their last two games. First they got a shot at the league leading Atlanta Hawks, riding 17 straight wins into the contest. Then last night they faced the on-the-rise Cavs with a rejuvenated Lebron James, gunning for their 11th straight win. The Sixers failed to end either winning streak, but in both losses the Sixers played some seriously competitive basketball and had a chance to steal both games. If we're using these games as measuring sticks, the Sixers seem to have come a long way. Kinda makes you wonder … if we played with the same intensity against a crappy team, we'd probably kill them, right?
Huzzah Nuggets! The Nuggets enter tonight's game riding a nice wave of crappiness, having dropped 9 of their last 10 games. Gosh, remember when the Nuggets went 57-25 2 years ago and made the playoffs, then fired George Karl? How's that working out? Did anyone even win the Melo trade?? And poor Ty Lawson. Until recently supplanted by John Wall, he was leading the league in assists at 9.8 per game. Actually, I think Ty Lawson deserves a bit more credit for the season he is having, which he wont get seeing as the Nuggets are a train wreck, but ~17ppg and ~10apg is pretty phenomenal on such a bad team.
Lawson is going to be a tough guard for the Sixers tonight, who presumably will be without MCW, who was injured in the Atlanta game and couldn't make it through the Cleveland game last night. With no Tony Wroten, that means LD2 is tasked with stopping Lawson, and that could be problematic. These two teams really get up and down the floor, with the Nuggets and Sixers having the 5th and 6th highest paces in the league, respectively. They also rank 24th and 30th, respectively, in true shooting %. So expect a fast paced masons convention, which I figure has to play into the Sixers hands.
You know who DOES shoot well? Jerami Grant, who had a career high 18pts last night against the Cavs. He is LEADING the team in 3pt% right now at .421, which would be the craziest thing ever until you find out that he is also shooting .571 on corner 3s, a full 14% better than #2 on the squad Bobby Buckets (.431). These are lofty numbers for a guy who basically was viewed as a poor-to-abysmal shooter coming out of Syracuse. Hinkie's legend grows as another 2nd round pick blossoms under Coach Brown's tutelage.
Game Notes:
- The Juice is Loose in Denver, as Bosnian rookie Jusuf Nurkic has been getting a bunch of run since Timofey Mozgov was traded to the Cavs. Grantland dubbed him The Modern Goon, and that works for me. That Vine of him talking smack on Marc Gasol is fantastic.
- Based on Wroten's Twitter feed, it looks like he had his ACL surgery today. This should sideline him for about 9 months, putting his return right around the start of next season. For a guy who's game is nothing fast paced craziness, here's to a full recovery.
- Don't look now, but the Sixers might be establishing home court a bit. After starting the season with 14 straight losses at home, the Sixers are 5-4 over their last 9 games.
Projected Lineups:
Sixers
PG Larry Drew II
SG JaKarr Sampson
SF Robert Covington
PF Luc Mbah a Moute
C Nerlens Noel
Nuggets
PG Ty Lawson
SG Aaron Afflalo
SF Wilson Chandler
PF Kenneth Faried
C Jusuf Nurkic
Injuries: Sixers: MCW (Questionable, Shin), Jason Richardson (Out, ad infinitum), Joel Embiid (Out, Foot), Tony Wroten (Out, right knee).
Nuggets: None.
Prediction: Home court advantage, Jerami Grant, a fast paced sloppy game, what's not to like? Sixers win 101-92, lock it up.
