{"id":519909,"date":"2026-01-06T09:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T09:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/519909\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T09:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T09:31:15","slug":"sixers-bell-ringer-hospital-nuggets-defeat-sixers-with-just-9-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/519909\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixers Bell Ringer: Hospital Nuggets defeat Sixers with just 9 players"},"content":{"rendered":"

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 15
VJ Edgecombe – 4
Joel Embiid – 3
Andre Drummond – 2
Paul George – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Jared McCain – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1<\/p>\n

This was a game the Philadelphia 76ers were predicted to win by double-digits \u2014 so it was always going to be a struggle. But this?<\/p>\n

The Denver Nuggets, with just nine players available and none of them being the typical stars, defeated the Sixers 125-124 in overtime on Monday night in South Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets have been decimated by injuries as of late, with the squad down seven rotation players including the likes of team-leaders Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. It didn\u2019t matter. Everyone else stepped up.<\/p>\n

The Sixers can never make anything easy, but this shouldn\u2019t have been nearly this difficult. Simply no excuse.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for a game recap to relive the horror, you can check that out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Sixers now get a day off before hosting the Washington Wizards on Wednesday evening. I\u2019d say that should be one of the easier games for Philadelphia but, after what we just saw, who knows anymore.<\/p>\n

Until then, let\u2019s get to the Bell Ringer. (I know no one really deserves praise after that loss\u2026)<\/p>\n

Joel Embiid: 32 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block<\/p>\n

\"(Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Embiid was the first one to really get going for the Sixers after their shaky start. In his fourth game in a row (something Embiid hadn\u2019t done yet this season), the big fella simply looked, well, bigger and stronger than the hospital Nuggets could handle. Denver tried to double-team him and Embiid didn\u2019t seem too swayed, literally pulling up and shooting directly over both defenders at one point. By halftime, Embiid led the floor with 15 points on 7-for-11 field goal shooting.<\/p>\n

His agility in using his size to back down opponents, his effectiveness and confidence in his footwork as well as his jumper hitting left and right \u2014 it all looks like the best we\u2019ve seen in quite some time. He\u2019s simply making plays, offensively and defensively, that didn\u2019t seem physically possible for Embiid anymore just a few weeks ago. He even got a pretty good launch to make a block tonight (it was objectively a missed goaltending call, but I\u2019m more so encouraged by his ability to get up to make that sort of play in general).<\/p>\n

The only downside to Embiid\u2019s play tonight was that he had a handful of turnovers that seemed like sort of lazy, reckless plays with the ball. He ended the game with six TOs. I will also say that Embiid started to look noticeably weaker\/sloppier late in the game\u2026 but he had already played 30 minutes at that point including the entirety of the third \u2014 the first time he\u2019s played a full period all season \u2014 so I\u2019m trying to take it with a grain of salt. Embiid ended up playing over 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

Embiid finished tonight with 32 points (13-for-22 field goals), 10 rebounds (six offensive), two assists and a block.<\/p>\n

Tyrese Maxey: 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks<\/p>\n

\"(Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

(Photo by David Dow\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tyrese Maxey continues to benefit from not only the screens and two-man game with Embiid on the floor, but from the extra space he gets with opponents focused on the big fella. He continues to aggressively attack the paint, finishing in often acrobatic fashion and almost always through some sort of contact. Maxey also continues to shoot well from long range, now sinking over 40% of threes in each of the last four games. On Monday, he hit 4-of-9 (44.4%) from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

He is making more and more impressive defensive plays \u2014 he had a few in just in the third period of this one alone \u2014 as Maxey keeps improving on his weaker side of the floor.<\/p>\n

Biggest error from Maxey tonight came on the final possession of regulation, where he lost the ball in his dribble as time was running out, forcing him to just heave up a last second triple that didn\u2019t fall. (But Nick Nurse also didn\u2019t call a timeout or run a play so I think the blame is somewhat shared, honestly.) Maxey had had a few good plays in isolation, but it was truly odd timing from all involved to think that was the play to go with there. He also had the final shot in OT that didn\u2019t fall, but that one I would personally chalk that up more to the defense of the Nuggets than another unforced error by Maxey.<\/p>\n

Maxey finished the game with 28 points (10-for-22 field goals, 4-9 from three), with six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks.<\/p>\n

VJ Edgecombe: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks<\/p>\n

\"(Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest, Edgecombe had an icy cold first half. He had a few great high-effort plays to extend possessions and made a handful of assists\u2026 but he couldn\u2019t get a shot to fall.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s happened to him before, and it never stops him from continuing to shoot and turning it around. He did the same tonight. After going 0-for-5 from the floor in the first half, Edgecombe didn\u2019t let it get him down. Instead, he went 3-for-3 (all triples) in the third quarter, warming up just in time to contribute in the clutch the way we\u2019ve all come to expect from him already.<\/p>\n

Edgecombe sank two triples and had a steal in the last four minutes of regulation to help push the game to overtime. In overtime, he had another steal and a block. The kid just seems to really have ice in his veins. He is just 20 years old and still in his first NBA season, and yet the biggest moments just simply do not phase him.<\/p>\n

He also did this in overtime:<\/p>\n

Even after a rough start, Edgecombe finished the game as the Sixers\u2019 third-highest scorer with 17 points and ended up shooting 5-for-11 (45.5%) from long range. He also had eight rebounds (two offensive), nine assists, two blocks and two steals. Not bad for a bad night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:Tyrese Maxey – 15VJ Edgecombe – 4Joel Embiid – 3Andre Drummond – 2Paul George…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,6,678,207,3817,42915],"class_list":{"0":"post-519909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","13":"tag-philadelphia76ers","14":"tag-sixers-scores"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115847461937067449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}