The Philadelphia 76ers are a supremely talented group led by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and they have good support talent around in them in Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Tobias Harris along with a bench that’s beginning to round into form. However, the offense is still a work in progress and it will be up to their defense to continue to carry them until they find a groove.
That was the case on Tuesday when they knocked off the Denver Nuggets 97-92. As their late-game offense grinded to a halt and they struggled on that end of the floor, the defense held the explosive Nuggets in check and Denver had nowhere to go for offense.
“They had six points in the final seven minutes,” said coach Brett Brown. “That’s pretty good. It’s a team that can score. I think they average 107 points. As I’ve said all along, it’s going to be great once our offense catches up to our defense. Our end-of-game defense is pretty special.”
Philadelphia held the Nuggets to 2-for-6 shooting and forced two turnovers in the final five minutes of the game. Despite their offense struggling and not being able to get a few shots to drop, the Sixes were able to grind out some stops and preserve the win. That’s a good sign going forward and when their offense does eventually catch up, the team will be able to really take off. [lawrence-related id=21068,21056,21042]