By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (4-16) are back in action tonight as they play host to the Denver Nuggets (7-13) at the Wells Fargo Center. Both teams are mired in slumps, with the Sixers losers of six in a row and Nuggets dropping five of their last six games.
Sixers rookie center Joel Embiid will return to the lineup tonight after sitting during the teams' game on Saturday against Boston, the second part of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, Jerryd Bayless (wrist) and Robert Covington (knee strain) are sidelined once again with their respective injuries tonight. Jahlil Okafor is also out with gastroenteritis and will not travel with the team to Memphis for Tuesday's game.
Last Meeting:
The Nuggets won both meetings with the Sixers last season, the most recent one by an Emmanuel Mudiay buzzer beater back at the end of March. Mudiay finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds and hit the game-winner after nearly having the ball stolen by Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell. Philadelphia led 102-97, but Denver surged and won in dramatic fashion. The Nuggets went on a 23-4 run in the final 8:18 of the game to swing the momentum to their side in the fourth. The Sixers were led offensively by T.J. McConnell with 17 points along with Carl Landry and Robert Covington, who each had 16.
Rookie of the Month Showdown:
Tonight's game will feature the two most recent rookies of the month in Joel Embiid and Nuggets' guard Jamal Murray. Embiid won the Eastern Conference award, leading the entire rookie class in scoring (18.2 ppg), rebounds (7.8 rpg) and blocks (2.4 bpg) while also shooting a rookie-best 50 percent from beyond the arc. The 7-foot-2 native of Cameroon just recently had his minutes increased to 28 per game and saw some success on the floor with fellow big man Jahlil Okafor on Friday against Orlando. It's a pairing that could become more of a regularity in the future.
Murray, 19, was selected seventh overall in this year's NBA Draft and was crowned Western Conference Rookie of the Month after topping the west rookies in scoring (10.4 ppg). He is averaging 9.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game overall this season, shooting 37.4 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three-point range. Murray is coming off of a rough game against the Jazz this past Saturday, as he shot 0-for-4 in 18 minutes of game action.
Veteran guard Jameer Nelson returns home…again:
One of the most memorable Philadelphia college basketball teams over the past 20 years was the St. Joe's squad with Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. While West's NBA career was derailed mostly because of off the court issues, Nelson has had a successful career with a handful of different teams. The 34-year-old veteran from Chester, PA, is in his 13th NBA season, his third as a member of the Denver Nuggets. He plays just over 26 minutes a game for the Nuggets as a backup to Emmanuel Mudiay, and averages 9.4 points and 4.4 assists per game. This season, Nelson is shooting 46 percent overall and 42.5 percent from three-point range. In 32 career games against the Sixers, Nelson has averaged 12.2 points on 40 percent shooting to go along with 6.3 assists. In four seasons with St. Joe's, Nelson averaged 16.8 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Previous Game Rewind:
Sixers: Philadelphia nearly upset the Boston Celtics, sans Joel Embiid, on Saturday. They actually led for the majority of the game, only to lose by one point, 107-106. Isaiah Thomas scored 37 points, including 12 straight in the fourth quarter, to give the Celtics a lead late in the game. Dario Saric tied things up at 100, but Thomas quickly scored on the other end and hit a free throw to put Boston up by three. Saric missed on a potential game-tying triple and Boston sealed the win. Ersan Ilyasova hit a three as time expired to make it a one-point loss. Rookie forward Dario Saric had perhaps his best game in the NBA, scoring 21 points to go along with 12 boards, shooting 7-for-12 overall and 3-for-6 from three-point range. Philadelphia got 18 from Ilyasova and 15 from both Jahlil Okafor and Sergio Rodriguez.
Nuggets: Denver is coming off of a 105-98 loss to the Jazz as Gordon Heyward scored 32 against a struggling Nuggets defense. Utah went on a 31-8 run during part of the third quarter to earn the win. The Nuggets hit seven three-pointers in fourth and managed to outscore the Jazz by 12 in the quarter, but only scored 16 points in the third, so their surge fell short. Denver has not won a road game since Nov. 6. Wilson Chandler and Will Barton each scored 20 for the Nuggets and Jameer Nelson added 13.
| Matchup Preview | December 5, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Denver Nuggets (7-13, 4-6 Away) |
Philadelphia 76ers (4-16, 4-10 Home) |
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Game Information:
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: CSNPhilly
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream Live: CSNPhilly.com, NBC Sports Live Extra app
