Nuggets escape shorthanded 76ers as Joel Embiid misses fourth consecutive game in Denver

One of the memorable high points of the Nuggets’ championship defense so far was their shocking, shorthanded win at the star-studded Clippers in November.

They were almost victims of an inverted version Saturday.

Without their three best players, the Philadelphia 76ers took the Nuggets to the brink of a season-low point before Denver scrapped out a 111-105 victory in its first home game in two weeks.

Tied at 96 with 4:30 remaining, the Nuggets (32-15) scored seven unanswered points to claim the lead for good. Then Michael Porter Jr., battling a second-half uncharacteristic shooting rut, drained his most important 3-pointer of the game to double a 104-101 lead with 1:17 remaining. Playing after a gruesome poke in the eye Thursday, Nikola Jokic led Denver with 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.

Ball Arena was sent into a delirious mixture of disappointment and glee when Joel Embiid, not even mentioned in Philadelphia’s pregame injury report, was unexpectedly ruled out 10 minutes before the opening tip due to knee soreness. During pauses in the national anthem, fans let the defending MVP hear it, unleashing comments into the dark silence such as “Embiid is a coward!” When he joined his team’s bench wearing street clothes during a fourth-quarter timeout, Denver greeted him with another chorus of boos.

The last time Embiid played a road game against the Nuggets was Nov. 8, 2019, when Jokic made a game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds left.

The 76ers had already announced Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris weren’t available by the time Embiid’s warm-up routine reportedly went poorly, so not only was the NBA’s “rivalry week” headliner spoiled — Jokic vs. Embiid — but so was the competitiveness of the Denver vs. Philadelphia matchup as a whole, supposedly.

That turned out not to be the case. If Embiid had played, the Nuggets might have been in for an especially rough afternoon. They played like a team still trying to catch up on sleep after a five-game road trip, losing in the areas of the matchup where they should have dominated in the absence of an MVP center. Jokic attempted only five shots in the first half while the Sixers outscored Denver 34-22 in the paint and shot 74% from 2-point range.

Jamal Murray’s outside shooting was the only reason the defending champs held a slim lead anyway at the break. While Philadelphia relied entirely on getting to the basket, Murray made three consecutive 3-pointers in the first four minutes and pounded his chest at the crowd to ignite himself. He went into halftime with 20 points (7 of 11 from the field, 5 of 6 from three), then the Nuggets decided to use their first play-call of the third quarter to test whether he was still hot. He was.

Patrick Beverley didn’t guard Murray as a man-to-man matchup 11 days after boasting in Philadelphia that “I’ve been locking his (butt) up for years.” However, Beverley was the 76ers’ most dynamic catalyst at the other end. He had a double-double by the end of the third quarter, play-making in lieu of Maxey for 17 points and 11 assists.

As impressive as Murray was, he was vexed at the foul line just as much as his teammates. This has been a problem all season for the Nuggets. They entered the Philly rematch ranked 28th in free throw percentage, and they failed to take advantage of a sizable advantage in trips to the line Saturday by shooting 24-for-38 there.

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