PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers fell short to the Denver Nuggets 125-124 in overtime on Monday as their 3-game win streak came to an end. The Sixers were unable to take advantage of a short-handed Nuggets team missing superstar Nikola Jokic as well as their entire starting lineup and their top two reserves. It was a tough performance all around.

Joel Embiid had 32 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers while Tyrese Maxey had 28 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Paul George had eight points, VJ Edgecombe had 17 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds, Quentin Grimes had 16 points and four rebounds, and Adem Bona had eight and six boards.

Here are the three biggest takeaways following the shocking loss:

Field goal defensive struggles

The Nuggets were walking into practice style jumpers all throughout the night. They shot 53% from the floor overall and 49% from deep as they were able to find that rhythm and put it on the Sixers all night long. It was a tough performance and Philadelphia was unable to really guard the ball and keep it out of the paint. They were able to force 17 turnovers so the Sixers will take that, but that field goal percentage allowed is not going to get the job done. It was a big difference when considering that Philadelphia took 98 shots compared to just 81 for Denver.

“That was strictly a shooting percentage game, right?” coach Nick Nurse said after the loss. “We allowed them to really feel good early and it continued just about the entire game. Just look at the numbers. 53%, 48% from 3. We out turnovered them a little bit. Out offensive rebounded them a little bit, got more shots than they did, right? So just the shooting percentage numbers really are part of the story of the game. We just didn’t guard keep the ball in front of us well enough all night.”

Edgecombe with a big second half

The rookie once again was able to shake off a slow start and give the Sixers a big boost in the guts of the game. He scored all 17 of his points after halftime and he made some big 3-pointers to keep the Sixers within distance of the Nuggets in this one. He also made some clutch shots in the fourth to help the Sixers force overtime when Denver led by five with less than two minutes to go. This young man continues to show that he is made for the moment and was a big reason why Philadelphia had a shot late.

“Big time player,” Maxey said of Edgecombe. “Big time player. I was asked, I think at the last game, are we running out of words to say about him? And, I mean, he’s just really good. He’s good. It’s just feels like we gotta stop sugarcoating and doing all the all these oh, he’s a rookie. Nah, he’s just a good basketball player. He’s really good for us to win. He makes a lot of winning plays. He a made a lot tonight. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the game, but that’s what he does.”

Lessons to be learned

The Sixers entered this contest on a 3-game win streak—all on the road—and had a great chance to keep things moving in the right direction against the short-handed Nuggets. After being the short-handed team all throughout the 2024-25 season, the Sixers had an opportunity to get some payback on Monday, but they were unable to do so, and it ended up in an unexpected loss. The Sixers must now put this experience in their back pocket and grow from it as time moves on.

“I mean, we knew this was gonna be a tough game,” Maxey added. “Like, I said it like at shootaround, when I realized that they said they played last night, they were going to maybe sit guys. I said, ‘Man, it’s gonna be a tough game.’ These games are hard to win. They’re hard to win, but if you’re a good team, you have to, like, find a way to pull them out.”