Nick Nurse Sounds Off on Philadelphia 76ers’ Blowout Loss vs Nuggets

As the Philadelphia 76ers prepared for their current run, one thing was very clear: Wins were not going to come easy.

Dealing with key setbacks and other factors that have caused the Sixers to struggle this season, this stretch was an opportunity for the Sixers to prove they have what it takes to bounce back after a slow start to the 2024-2025 NBA season.

So far, they’ve fallen flat.

And a blowout loss on the road against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night was a new low point.

Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse certainly wasn’t happy with his team’s performance against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

“There's a bunch of things, but I think it all boils down to we weren't ready to go from the start,” Nurse told reporters, according to Sixers Wire.

“I mean, I just talked to them about a few simple things that we were trying to do at the start of the game, like, two minutes in, and we were a couple guys in one scheme and a couple guys in another. Just lack of being ready to go, right? It's too bad, because, again, I thought we had great prep and great shootaround today and had some good stuff ready to go, but we didn't get in some stuff."

The Nuggets dominated the Sixers, controlling the game from start until finish. By the time the game reached the fourth quarter, the Sixers’ biggest deficit was 23 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Sixers went to their bench and called it a night for most of the starters. After shooting just 26 percent from the field, another scoring outburst from the Nuggets’ bench left the Sixers losing by nearly 40 points.

Nurse pinpointed four key areas where he thought the Sixers struggled the most. He was not happy with the team’s offensive execution, specifically in finishing at the rim.

On the defensive end, Nurse wasn’t happy with the Sixers’ fight. They allowed the Nuggets to shoot over 60 percent from the field, knocking down half of their threes. They were also out-rebounded 51-25.

All that boils down to the final two points: a lack of communication and a lack of mental preparation.

"We've been fighting like heck. We've been fighting like heck, fighting like heck, all the way, pulling games back, being close, you know, with a chance in a bunch of games, but tonight, we just didn't bring it,” Nurse concluded.

“We just didn't bring it. I mean, you're gonna have some of these throughout the year where, for whatever reason, you just are stuck in the mud, and you're moving slow and whatever. I just don't think we're in great position to have one of those now. So not very happy."

The Sixers’ Tuesday night 144-109 loss was their seventh in a row. They dropped to 15-27 on the season, and are three games out of the NBA Play-In Tournament.

There is hope that the Sixers could get their star center, Joel Embiid, back in the mix as soon as Friday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the team isn’t sure at this time.

Even if Embiid does make his way back this week, there is no telling how long he could stay out on the floor until his lingering knee concerns take him back out.

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