Sixers' Loss to Shorthanded Nuggets Isn't a Referendum on the Whole Season

The Sixers had a horrible, no-good, very-bad loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday. The Nuggets were without their entire starting five along with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas and were on the second night of a back-to-back, but that didn't stop them from toppling the Sixers in overtime, 125-124.

Given the circumstances, the loss is inexcusable for the Sixers, who were nearly at full strength. They entered Monday on a three-game win streak and were fresh off the high of beating the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Teams often tend to be lethargic in the first home game after a long road trip, but the Sixers had an overwhelming talent advantage against the shorthanded Nuggets and failed to take advantage of it.

With that said, the loss was also completely predictable to anyone who's been following the Sixers—or the NBA—for a long time.

Before drawing grand conclusions about what this loss means for the Sixers' overall direction, take a look at what else happened around the Association on Monday alone. The New York Knicks got blown out by a Detroit Pistons team that was without Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris. The Golden State Warriors lost to the James Harden-less Los Angeles Clippers. And the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who once looked like a threat to the Warriors' 73-win record, got annihilated by the Charlotte Hornets. The Charlotte Hornets!

The perils of the 82-game regular season

These types of losses occasionally happen throughout the long slog of the 82-game regular season. Even though NBA players are professional athletes, they sometimes struggle to muster motivation, particularly when an opponent is shorthanded. That's the textbook definition of a trap game, and the Sixers fell right for it Monday.

The real test is how they respond Wednesday when they take on the Washington Wizards at home. It'll be the second night of a back-to-back for the rebuilding Wizards, who take on the Orlando Magic tonight, but they have gone 4-2 over the past six games, including wins against the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. If the Sixers aren't careful, they could fall for the same trap Wednesday that they did Monday against the Nuggets.

Monday's loss loss should force every Sixers player to reflect on where they fell short. Joel Embiid continued his resurgence with 32 points and 10 rebounds, but he ran out of gas toward the end of the game and became a turnover machine. Tyrese Maxey choked at the end of both regulation and overtime. VJ Edgecombe made a ton of winning plays in crunch time and overtime, as is quickly becoming tradition for him, but he was invisible in the first half. And did Paul George even play in that game? He made a key block and hauled in a huge rebound in the final minute of regulation, but eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and a team-worst minus-18 on the night gave off major Tobias Harris 2.0 vibes.

If Saturday's win over the Knicks showcased the ceiling of this year's Sixers, Monday's loss to the Nuggets was a reminder of their floor. It made Nurse's comments after the former sound even more prophetic in retrospect.

"We got a long way to go," Nurse told reporters Saturday. "I told you at the start of the season, we were in a big hole we had to dig out of, and we're still digging. There's a lot of conditioning, rhythm, health can get a little bit better, and we just keep building on that."

It's easy to get swept up in the Sixers' upside when things are going well. How they respond to the adversity of Monday's loss will be far more telling, though.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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