Sixers player grades: Seth Curry leads the way in win over Nuggets
The Philadelphia 76ers continued their long 6-game road trip on Thursday when they took a visit to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Nuggets. Once again, the team was shorthanded as they were missing Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, and Danny Green out on the floor.
They knew the odds were stacked against them against a very good Nuggets team in the thin air out in Denver, but the Sixers were able to dig deep and come away with a 103-89 win. The win snaps a season-long 5-game losing streak and they were able to get themselves back in the right direction as Seth Curry had a big game with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Tyrese Maxey actually led Philadelphia with 22 points and five rebounds, Georges Niang had 11 points, Tobias Harris added 17 and seven rebounds, Shake Milton added 12, five rebounds, and four assists, and rookie Charles Bassey provided some good production with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
Here are the player grades following a big win:
Tyrese Maxey: A
Whenever the Sixers get off to tough starts, it seems like they can just turn to Maxey and let him get the offense going. Philadelphia started slowly in this one as the ball got stuck and it was not whipping around, but Maxey was able to get the offense going as he got himself some easy baskets. It’s almost as if he is blossoming into the team’s go-to scorer from the perimeter. There were a few impressive moves he had in this one in order to free himself up for buckets. He was even shooting off the dribble 3-pointers which is something that was unforeseen heading into this season.
Seth Curry: A
Curry missed his first three triples before finally getting one to drop that had to feel good for him. The sharpshooter had a tough night on Tuesday in Utah and it looked like the length of the Nuggets was going to bother him in this one initially. He was getting into the paint a lot, he was active on the glass, and he was terrific distributing the ball as well. This was a strong Curry bounce back after the struggles against the Jazz.
Tobias Harris: B
This was Harris’ fourth game back after testing positive for COVID and while his endurance looked fine in the thin Denver air, he struggled shooting the ball to start. He only shot 2-for-8 in the first half and he did not do much else out there in the early part of the game. Luckily, the Sixers got contributions from others to make up for it until he was able to finally get some shots to fall in the second half as he was a big help after halftime. Overall, it wasn’t an impressive Harris game, but it was enough to come away with a win.
Georges Niang: B+
In his first season of the season, Niang gave the Sixers a bit of size in a time where they are obviously missing it at the moment. He was able to add some spacing as a stretch-4 and the Sixers were able to take advantage of that space in the first half as they went on a 22-4 run to build a double-digit lead. The Nuggets had to pay attention to him in the second half and that allowed Maxey and Curry to have the success that they had.
Andre Drummond: C-
Nikola Jokic is a tough matchup for anybody, but Drummond tried to do too much on the defensive end against him. A lot of times, he would try and play the passing lanes in order to get a steal which would lead to Jokic slipping back door for an easy bucket. It’s understandable why Drummond would do so to try and throw Denver off, but it’s hard to do that against a guy like Jokic. Offensively, he does get credit for moving without the ball and getting some easy looks at the basket.
Shake Milton: A
The bench gave the Sixers a big lift in this one and Milton was a big reason for that. He was aggressive getting into the paint and looking for his own offense and that gave Philadelphia a big spark when it was needed. He has good length and size out on the perimeter so it was good that he was able to use that to his advantage. He rebounded well and he was able to make some good passes in the second half to get his teammates involved.
Charles Bassey: A+
Coach Doc Rivers turned to the rookie to be his backup big man to start and Bassey rewarded him for his faith. His activity was huge off the bench and he had a nice move whole rolling to the basket to finish an And-1. He has very good instincts on the defensive end and he has looked very good in his limited minutes to begin the season. He bothered the hell out of Jokic and every Nuggets player who tried driving into the paint. He also was able to take advantage of his opportunities on the offensive end which is something that the Sixers will take as a bonus at this point.
Furkan Korkmaz: B-
Like Milton, it was good to see Korkmaz contributing early. It has been tough sledding for him lately and he confidently knocked down an open triple in the first half after he was able to get into the paint for a tough bucket. Unfortunately for him, he did struggle again on the defensive end and it knocks his grade down a bit.
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