No Moral Victories: Tyrese Maxey with 42, Yabusele breaks out, but Sixers fall in shootout vs. Nuggets 137-134

The Sixers traded haymakers for 48 minutes, but when the dust settled, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets walked out of South Philly with a 137-134 win.

It was the Tyrese Maxey show, as he erupted for 42 points in a statement performance, while Guerschon Yabusele had a career night that might make Philly rethink their backup center rotation. In the end, it wasn’t enough to overcome Jokic’s late-game execution and the Sixers’ defensive issues—which were glaring all night.

Tyrese Maxey’s Revenge Game

Tyrese Maxey came into this one fresh off his All-Star snub, and you knew he was going to make a statement.

Tyrese Maxey’s All-Star SNUB is a joke >>

It didn’t start pretty.

Tyrese Maxey had three turnovers in roughly 90 seconds. That did include a Russell Westbrook kicked ball but of course, the whistles were silent. On top of that, Maxey started to slide into his “reckless shot selection” mode before settling in and flipping the switch to “unstoppable.”

But once he settled in? He was unstoppable.

RESE FOR THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/N5rNBV62CQ

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 1, 2025

Tyrese Maxey cooked Denver’s defense with a beautiful blend of footwork, quickness, and craft around the rim. Julian Strawther had no shot at keeping up, biting on every fake and looking completely lost on multiple possessions.

And then the three-ball started dropping.

Denver gave Tyrese Maxey way too much space early, and once he saw a couple of practice threes go down, he turned into a human torch. By the fourth quarter, every stepback three sounded like the Wells Fargo Center ready to explode through my television. You could feel the crowd leaning with his shot, trying to will the ball into the hoop.

latest Rese triple brings us within 3! pic.twitter.com/VIykTzNCnf

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 1, 2025

Overall, that was probably the best stretch Tyrese Maxey has ever had as the No. 1 option and it happened against an elite team, on national TV, while playing through double teams, aggressive closeouts, and top defenders being thrown at him all night.

Guerschon Yabusele Career High 28 Points

2️⃣8️⃣ for 2️⃣8️⃣ last night. 👏 pic.twitter.com/TsanqbhF0C

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 1, 2025

Yabusele’s previous NBA career-high was 22 points. He had 18 at halftime in this one.

Yabusele’s impact was more than just numbers—he forced Denver’s defense to adjust. Jokic, who usually gets to park in the paint and take mental breaks, had to respect Yabusele’s perimeter game.

Philly’s second unit spacing was dramatically better with Yabusele out there, and Maxey thrived in that environment.

You’d have to think that teams are calling the 76ers about Yabu ahead of the trade deadline. If anyone is even available to pick up the phone, I’m sure they are mulling over the decision on what direction they should take this team for the remainder of the season.

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If Philly is smart, they stop playing around and make him Embiid’s full-time backup. The Drummond experiment is fine for certain matchups, but Maxey’s offensive life is so much easier when he has Yabusele spacing the floor instead of Drummond clogging the paint like a 2003 center.

We have to address the Sixers’ defensive meltdown

The Sixers defense is the reason they lost last night and snapped a four-game winning streak. The first half was the ugliest and resembled more of a YMCA scrimmage than an actual nationally televised NBA game.

Denver shot 60-70% for most of the game, because nobody could be bothered to contest shots properly. And yet, despite all that, the Sixers had a chance late but that’s when things pretty much unraveled in the final seconds.

• Maxey getting switched onto Jokic multiple times
• Sixers refused to get Maxey out of the switch.

Then, with the game on the line, the Sixers decided to trap Jamal Murray leaving Jokic one-on-one with Kelly Oubre Jr. That ended exactly how you’d expect with an easy Jokic bucket and a 137-134 win for the Denver Nuggets.

No Moral Victories.

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