Maxey looks like an All-Star dropping 42 but Sixers lose thrilling shootout to Jokic, Nuggets

Tyrese Maxey and the shorthanded Sixers gave the Nuggets all they could handle, but Nikola Jokic came up with several clutch plays to seal the win for Denver.

What an entertaining basketball game and, man, did we all need it.

The Sixers four-game winning streak was snapped when they fell 137-134 to the Denver Nuggets Friday night.

Whether he felt snubbed or not, Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 42 points along with nine assists. Guerschon Yabusele had a career-high 28 points while Kelly Oubre Jr. went for 27. Jamal Murray led Denver with 31 while Nikola Jokic finished with 28 as the Nuggets shot 65% from the floor.

Joel Embiid and Paul George both remained out as the team expects a further update on them after their next practice Saturday.

Here are some thoughts from the Center.

First Quarter

• Maxey may have been playing a little too fast at the start of this one as he had three turnovers within the first two minutes of the game. Just like their last matchup, that helped Denver get out to plenty of easy transition opportunities as they made six of their first nine shots of the night.
• Wherever Jokic would set up shop, his cutters were able to pick apart the Sixers’ defense getting to the lane. The Nuggets scored 20 points in the paint in the first. The Sixers had no problem getting to the rim as well — Maxey made a nice hesi move to fake a handoff and clear a wide open lane. Oubre got himself an easy layup as well. Their early offensive advantage though was making five of their first six threes of the night.
• The Sixers’ defense begun to pack the paint, and were able to turn the Nuggets over five times on three steals in the quarter. Maxey continued to break down defenders off the dribble on his way to 13 points in the first. Julian Strawther just got his midrange jumper off to give the Nuggets a two-point lead as the quarter expired.

Second Quarter

• Denver is one of the few teams that struggle with three-point volume more than the Sixers — they actually take the fewest per game in the league. Their three first field goals of the second coming from behind the arc helped them extend their lead with Jokic on the bench. Maxey was on the Sixers’ bench though, and it fell to Oubre to keep the offense afloat. He continued to have success driving as he had 14 points in the quarter — he’s really done well driving those units the last couple of weeks.
• It wasn’t as pronounced as his slump two months ago, but Yabu’s shooting had gone a bit cold as of late. Tonight though he made five of his first six shots, starting 4-of-5 from three. When his shots are falling it does make the energy he provides feel even better. He picked off a pass at halfcourt and grabbed an offensive rebound off a free throw in the second.

• The Sixers’ offense continued to roll. They shot over 50% from the field and three in the half, though they still had little answers to keep the Nuggets out of the paint, who shot a blistering 68% from the field in the half. Maxey had a couple weird mistakes to end the half — a take foul after just not getting the ball up the court in eight seconds. That helped the Nuggets take a four-point lead into the break.

Third Quarter

• Not much changed as the Nuggets scored on their first six possessions of the second half. The Sixers were able to weather that storm as a weird turnover from Russell Westbrook took them out of rhythm for a moment.
• It helped that Jokic seemed apathetic towards defense, but Yabusele just continued to be everywhere. He blew by his defender to dunk down the lane, he was grabbing putbacks, and got rewarded by Justin Edwards for running the floor in transition with a lob in transition. Halfway through the quarter he had reached a new career high in points.

• The Sixers had a strong possession towards the end of the quarter where they grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds, but came up empty. The Nuggets came up with one of their own and finished the possession with a corner three. Ricky Council IV was able to get that back as the buzzer sounded, keeping it a three-point lead for Denver after the third.

Fourth Quarter

• Council, who said this week he feels he’s been picking his spots better, opened the quarter with another corner three. He then created a fast break by picking Westbrook’s pocket, and stole an errant pass on the following possession as well.
• The Sixers started to get sloppy at a costly time. Oubre fumbled the ball out of bounds, Eric Gordon sailed a pass to the stands trying to hit him in the corner, Council threw it back to the Nuggets trying to save his own rebound. They had another answer though as Gordon knocked down a pair of 30-footers. Maxey blazed through the defense and hit a couple up-and-under layups to retake the lead with about three minutes to go.

• After Jokic tied the game with a three with two minutes to go, Oubre took it right back with one of his own. After Maxey came up empty on a contested stepback, Jokic put Denver back in front with an and-1.
• Maxey went right to the basket to tie the game up on the next possession, but Jokic answered with another three from the top of the key. Maxey made a pair of free throws on the other end. The Sixers aggressively trapped Murray when he came down the floor but he was able to get it to Jokic for another bucket to push the lead back to three. The Sixers went for a quick two, but it took them nine seconds to get it. With one more shot down three with three seconds remaining they were out of timeouts, and only got a halfcourt heave that didn’t come close. They were just too small for Jokic down the stretch.
• The homestand rolls on as the Sixers host the Boston Celtics Sunday evening at 6 p.m. ET. It’s their second matchup of the year against the defending champions. Philadelphia won the first matchup 118-114 back on Christmas in one of their few games that they were close to full strength.