76ers vs Denver Nuggets Match Player Stats: Short-Handed Nuggets Steal One in Overtime

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined for 60 points, and it still wasn’t enough. If you’re searching for the full 76ers vs Denver Nuggets match player stats, the short version is this: a Denver roster missing four rotation regulars out-shot Philadelphia from deep and survived overtime, 125-124. Here’s every number that mattered.

The Lead

Xfinity Mobile Arena hosted a strange one on January 5, 2026, as the Philadelphia 76ers welcomed a Nuggets team that barely resembled itself. Nikola Jokić was already weeks into a knee injury, Jamal Murray sat out, and both Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon didn’t even dress. Denver’s starting five instead featured Peyton Watson, Spencer Jones, Jalen Pickett, Bruce Brown, and DaRon Holmes — a lineup built almost entirely from bench pieces.

None of that showed up on the scoreboard. Jalen Pickett scored a career-high 29 points, Zeke Nnaji added 21 off the bench, and Denver shot a scorching 48.6% from three to survive a 32-point, 10-rebound night from Embiid and a 28-point outing from Maxey. The 76ers actually led for stretches and forced overtime, but a costly late turnover and a few missed looks from deep sealed their fate in the extra period, where Denver outscored Philadelphia 5-4 to escape with the win.

Match Overview Table

If you’re wondering where to watch 76ers vs Denver Nuggets matches going forward, Peacock and NBC carry a chunk of Monday and Sunday night games this season, while ABC, ESPN, and Prime Video split the rest of the national slate.

Core Match Statistics Overview

Three Point Shooting

• Denver needed 20 fewer attempts than a normal Jokić-led night but still buried 18 triples at an elite .486 clip.
• Philadelphia hunted volume from deep (45 attempts) but converted at a much lower .378 rate, and that gap alone nearly matched the final margin.

Ball Control

• The 76ers actually out-assisted Denver 28-26, showing this wasn’t a case of stagnant offense.
• Philadelphia’s 14 turnovers were the fewest of the two teams, yet Denver’s live-ball takeaways still generated easy points in transition.

Rebounding Battle

• Philadelphia won the overall glass 42-38, paced by a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds.
• Denver countered by controlling the defensive glass 31-28, limiting Philadelphia’s second-chance value.

Free Throw Discipline

• Both sides shot well from the line — Denver at .750 and Philadelphia at .789 — meaning free throws weren’t the swing factor many expected in an overtime classic.
• Denver’s 28 attempts compared to Philadelphia’s 19 gave the Nuggets more margin for error late.

Period-by-Period Analysis

• Denver opened steady behind an efficient first quarter from its makeshift starting five, taking an early 29-26 edge despite missing four regulars.
• Philadelphia’s third quarter was the game’s best individual frame for either team, a 35-point surge fueled by Embiid and Edgecombe that flipped momentum heading into the fourth.
• Denver’s reserves-turned-starters answered with a 33-point fourth quarter to force overtime, and the extra session came down to a handful of possessions that broke Denver’s way.

Denver Nuggets Player Statistics

Pickett ran the offense as Denver’s de facto point guard for the night, going 11-of-20 from the field and 7-of-11 from three in what was easily his best statistical outing of the season. Watson provided two-way value with active hands on defense and a near-double-double, while Nnaji’s efficient 21 points off the bench gave Denver the scoring punch it needed once the starters wore down.

Philadelphia 76ers Player Statistics

Embiid controlled the interior with 13-of-22 shooting and a game-high 10 rebounds, though six turnovers hurt Philadelphia’s offensive rhythm in key stretches. Maxey was the clear second engine, pairing 28 points with four steals, and Edgecombe quietly stuffed the stat sheet with a near triple-double line built on playmaking rather than scoring volume.

Statistical Leaders Summary Table

Why Denver Won

Efficient Shooting From Every Level

Denver shot .531 from the field and .486 from three, both well ahead of Philadelphia’s marks, and that efficiency gap covered for a rebounding deficit and a rough turnover total.

Bench Scoring That Didn’t Blink

With Jokić, Murray, Gordon, and Braun all unavailable, Denver still got 21 points from Zeke Nnaji and 14 more from Hunter Tyson, turning what looked like a mismatch on paper into a balanced scoring night.

Winning the Turnover Battle in Reverse

Despite committing 19 turnovers to Philadelphia’s 14, Denver’s aggressive perimeter defense forced live-ball mistakes at the right moments, and its offense converted enough of those chances to offset the raw turnover gap.

Why Philadelphia Lost

Cold Shooting From Deep

Philadelphia hoisted 45 three-point attempts but connected on only 17, a .378 clip that left points on the board across all four quarters.

Heavy Dependence on Two Players

Embiid and Maxey combined for 60 of Philadelphia’s 124 points — nearly half the team’s output — and when Denver tightened up on that duo in overtime, no third scorer consistently stepped forward.

Historical Context & Advanced Insights

Season Series Breakdown

This was the only regular-season meeting between the two clubs captured in the current 76ers vs Denver Nuggets timeline for the 2025-26 season, making it the defining data point in this year’s head-to-head.

Advanced Statistical Insights

Denver’s assist-to-field-goal ratio (26 assists on 43 makes, or roughly 60%) points to a genuinely ball-movement-driven attack rather than one star carrying the offense — unsurprising given Jokić’s absence forced the Nuggets to play read-and-react basketball all night. Philadelphia’s ratio (28 assists on 46 makes, also near 61%) was nearly identical, which is part of why the box score reads so evenly despite the final shooting-percentage gap. The real separator sits in true shooting efficiency: Denver’s blend of high-volume threes at a near-.500 clip simply produced more points per possession than Philadelphia’s more turnover-prone, lower-efficiency mix.

Game Implications & Key Lessons

What This Means for Denver

• A win of this nature, without four rotation players, is a real marker of organizational depth heading into a stretch where Jokić remains sidelined.
• Pickett and Nnaji both banked signature performances that could shift their roles once the regular rotation returns.

What This Means for Philadelphia

• The 76ers need more than two players scoring in bulk if they want to beat quality opponents in close games.
• Cleaning up perimeter shot selection, especially from Paul George (3-of-10 from the field), is an obvious area to address.

Key Lessons

• Shooting efficiency can outweigh raw counting stats like rebounds and assists in close games.
• Depth matters — Denver’s bench outplayed expectations and covered for four missing starters.
• Turnovers aren’t automatically fatal if a defense can’t consistently convert them.
• Two elite scorers aren’t always enough without a reliable third or fourth option.
• Overtime periods often come down to a handful of possessions, not the full 48 minutes of production.

FAQ

Who won the 76ers vs Denver Nuggets game?

The Denver Nuggets won 125-124 in overtime on January 5, 2026, despite missing Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun.

Who scored the most points in the game?

Joel Embiid led all scorers with 32 points for Philadelphia, while Jalen Pickett topped Denver with a career-best 29 points.

What were Tyrese Maxey’s stats in this game?

Maxey finished with 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in 45 minutes and 35 seconds of action.

Where can fans find these 76ers vs Denver Nuggets stats?

Full team and player numbers from this matchup, including quarter-by-quarter scoring, are drawn directly from the official box score for the January 5, 2026 game.

How many 76ers vs Denver Nuggets matches happened this season?

Based on the available 2025-26 schedule data, this January 5 meeting stands as this season’s documented matchup between the two clubs.

Did the 76ers have a chance to win in regulation?

Yes — Philadelphia led at multiple points in the fourth quarter and forced overtime before Denver closed it out 5-4 in the extra period.

Conclusion

This game is a clean case study in why efficiency and depth so often beat top-heavy production. Philadelphia’s stars did their job, combining for 60 points, yet Denver’s balanced attack and superior shooting percentages from the field and beyond the arc made the difference in a game that came down to overtime. For a franchise missing four key rotation pieces, that’s a result worth remembering.