Sixers Come Up Empty in Late Collapse to Nuggets

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Denver 108, Philadelphia 105 – Box Score

Playing a Saturday night matinee in front of the home crowd at the Center, the Sixers decided to go with one of their tried-and-tried greatest hits. These days, that means getting the fans hopes up before an epic collapse in the final minutes.

For the 7th time in their last 8 games, the Sixers held a fourth quarter lead, this time leading Denver by 4 with 2:41 left in the game. Unfortunately, across those 7 games with a late lead, Philadelphia still has just 1 win to show for it (thanks again, Kobe!). On Saturday, a Denver closed the game on a 10-0 run before a meaningless Robert Covington (18 points and 10 rebounds) three banked in at the buzzer.

While missed shots and Covington inexplicably stepping out of bounds with the ball certainly did the team no favors, Brett Brown continued to perplex with his late-game decision to have Isaiah Canaan be the primary ball-handler. Canaan actually had a very nice game, shooting 5-8 from three for 15 points, but he was most effective playing off the ball as the two-guard. When relied upon to try to create offense for himself, this is what transpired:

https://twitter.com/wesley_share/status/673246503415054336

It’s not clear why Brown seems reluctant to at least try T.J. McConnell in crunch time of games. He would seemingly stand a better shot at getting a teammate an open look. Tony Wroten was also clearly lobbying the assistant coaches to get back into the game down the stretch (more on his performance below), but he had already reached his team-appointed minutes limit.

Danilo Gallinari had a really nice game for the Nuggets with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Not really apropos of anything in relation to the Sixers, but it’s great to see him back on the court performing at a high level after the injuries he’s dealt with over the years. Emmanuel Mudiay did not make the Sixers regret passing on him in the draft, at least for this afternoon, committing 7 turnovers and shooting just 4-12 from the field. Denver coach Mike Malone went with a Jameer Nelson-Randy Foye backcourt to close out the game, instead of turning to the rookie. Veteran presence!

Other Game Notes:

• Tony Wroten made his long-awaited return to the lineup and it was the full Tony Wroten experience. To those unfamiliar, that involves a whole lot of barreling full-speed into the lane, sometimes resulting in great passes to teammates (3 assists), sometimes wild shots that careen off the backboard (2-7 from the field), and often the ball going to someone in the opposite uniform (5 turnovers in just 13 minutes). While it’s great to finally have someone back who can beat his man off the dribble, Wroten still hasn’t learned to not run directly into a help defender (he had a couple charges) or rocket the ball off a big man’s hands (odds are especially poor when said big man is Nerlens Noel). At the very least, Tony Wroten is never boring.
• Jahlil Okafor will return to action Monday against San Antonio, following his team-imposed two-game suspension. Hopefully, that’s the last off-the-court issue concerning Okafor we have to deal with in the foreseeable future and we can turn our attention back to concerns about fit on the court.

Jahlil Okafor returns from his suspension tomorrow, but the Sixers still have a big on-court issue to deal with: pic.twitter.com/i4ssdDrAqr

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) December 6, 2015