76ers dump Nuggets for rare winning streak
DENVER -- The Philadelphia 76ers believe they are starting to see things more clearly.
The Denver Nuggets wouldn't mind closing their eyes to their current woes.
Seven Philadelphia players scored in double figures, and the 76ers enjoyed a big second quarter during a 114-102 win over Denver on Wednesday night.
Philadelphia (10-21) won its second consecutive road game after losing its previous 13 away from home. The 76ers also won consecutive games for the first time since starting the season 3-0.
After trailing by as many as nine points in the opening period, Philadelphia used a 44-point second quarter that was sparked by its bench to take a 68-56 lead into halftime. The 44 points were most the 76ers scored in a quarter since 1996, and the 68 was their high for a half this season.
The consecutive wins came over the struggling Los Angeles Lakers and a Nuggets team that might best be described as lost, but the 76ers didn't seem to mind.
"You hope things slowly come together," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. "You hope you just stay the course and you don't blink. We haven't done anything different."
Added Philadelphia forward Thaddeus Young: "Our second unit did a really good job of taking advantage of the opportunity to play and picking up the defensive intensity in the game. They worked (the Nuggets') second unit real good."
Denver (14-17) lost its eighth game in a row, its longest losing streak since the end of the 2002-03 season. The Nuggets let an opponent top 40 points in a quarter for the first time this season.
After the game, first-year Nuggets coach Brian Shaw blasted his team for what he said was a lack of effort. Asked if his players are buying into his strategy, Shaw answered: "It certainly doesn't look like that right now.
"In terms of my philosophy, playing hard is part of any coach's philosophy, whether it's our team or any other team. Whether you buy into what I'm running offensively or what I'm running defensively, what should be universal is coming out and giving effort.
"Everybody is getting a paycheck, including myself. So when it's time to go to work, you have to go to work, and you give it everything you have and leave it on the floor, and I don't think we're doing that, starting with me and sprinkling down to the players."
Said Nuggets center J.J. Hickson: "The good thing about this league is you get 82 games. We have nowhere to go but up. We've hit rock bottom.
"We need to take pride in our defense on the court."
Philadelphia closed the first half with a 13-2 run during which forward Evan Turner scored eight points, prompting the Pepsi Center crowd to boo the Nuggets as they left the floor.
On the night, the 76ers shot 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) on 3-pointers, including 7-for-14 during the second quarter. Denver went 5-for-25 (20 percent) from long range.
Turner, who returned to action Sunday after missing the previous game with right knee soreness, led the 76ers with 23 points. He added six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Young continued his recent strong play with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 25 or more in each of his previous four games.
All five Nuggets starters scored in double figures. Hickson had a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Wilson Chandler added 16 points. Guard Ty Lawson contributed 15 points and 11 assists.
Denver pulled within 106-97 on Chandler's 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining. However, Philadelphia scored the next five points, ending with Young's driving basket with 1:48 to go, to put it away.
NOTES: Philadelphia assistant coach Chad Iske spent the previous 14 seasons with the Nuggets. He was Denver's video coordinator and an advanced scout before becoming an assistant coach in 2008. Iske is a graduate of Regis Jesuit High School in suburban Aurora, Colo. ... G Randy Foye returned to Denver's starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous three games, and he scored 14 points. Foye started the season's first 27 games. "He wasn't defending well, he wasn't rebounding, he wasn't making plays for his teammates and he was struggling shooting the ball, so it was a combination of all of those things that landed him in the second unit," coach Brian Shaw said. Foye had 11 points and seven assists in Monday's loss to the Miami Heat, but Shaw said leaving Foye in the fourth quarter of a 21-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday enabled the guard to find his rhythm again. ... Philadelphia G Tony Wroten and Denver G Nate Robinson are cousins.
