The red-hot Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers are coming in hot. They are now winners in 10 of their last 12 games while only allowing 100.3 points per game during that span. With a 17-7 record, they are hovering around the third and second spots in the Easter Conference standings.

The Sixers lost to the Denver Nuggets in their meeting last November 9th, 100-97. It was a massive choke job on Philly’s part as the team got outscored in the fourth quarter, 35-13, and also missed 16 of their 21 shots.

To avenge the embarrassing defeat, Tobias Harris (19.2 PPG) and Joel Embiid (21.9 PPG, 12.5 RPG) would simply have to do better than last time. Both appeared passive in the final period and combined to go 2-for-8.

One good news for the Sixers, however, is that they’ll have Ben Simmons (14.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 8.5 APG) this time around. He missed the previous encounter due to a shoulder injury.

The Sixers have won all of their 12 games at home this season.

The staggering Nuggets

The Nuggets are on a bumpy ride. After jumping into a hot start that saw them win 13 of their first 16 games, they have since dropped four of their last five. It’s a bad stretch that sunk them into a 14-7 record and the fifth spot in the West.

Despite the cold run, the Nuggets will now hope to get energy and confidence from their win over the Sixers in the previous match-up. In that 100-97, come-from-behind victory, the defense came alive right in time and the offense followed suit. They punched in 35 points in the final quarter and shot 60.9% (14-for-23) from the floor.

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Will Barton each notched 20-plus points in that game, with Jokic and Murray also logging in double-doubles. As the top three scorers of the Nuggets, the trio can be expected to power the attack again.

The Nuggets are a decent-at-best 6-4 on the road this season but they are still boasting the number one scoring defense in the league (101.9 PPG).

PREDICTION:

The Sixers keep their home court record clean and win, 108-102.