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Sixers vs Denver Nuggets at a glance

 76ers vs. Denver Nuggets at a Glance

TEAMS:  Sixers (7-24) vs. Nuggets (14-18)

WHEN: 9 p.m. Friday

WHERE:  Pepsi Center

BROADCASTS: TV – CSN RADIO – 97.5 FM

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE:  TWITTER – @PompeyOnSixers, INSTAGRAM – PompeyOnSixers

411 ON NUGGETS:  Denver looks to win three consecutive games for the second time this season when they face the Sixers. The Nuggets picked up an impressive road win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday before coming home to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.  Those two victories gave them five wins in their last seven games.

Danilo Gallinari is establishing himself as Denver's go-to guy.  He averages a team-high 16.9 points and has scored in double-figures in 28 of this season's 29 games.  The 6-foot-10 small forward is also shooting 38.3 percent on three-pointers. He's averaging 18.4 points and shooting 44.4 percent on threes in the past nine games.

PROBABLE STARTERS

SIXERS (7-24)

33 Robert Covington SF 6-9  10.0 ppg. 1.6 spg.

7 Ersan Ilyasova PF 6-10 14.5 ppg. 6.4 rpg.

21 Joel Embiid C 7-2 18.7 ppg. 2.38 bpg.

11 Nik Stauskas SG 6-6  9.3 ppg. 2.6 rpg.

1 T.J. McConnell PG 6-2 4.2 ppg. 4.7 apg.

Coach: Brett Brown (Fourth season, 54-223)

Injury report: Ben Simmons (right foot fracture, out), Jerryd Bayless, (left wrist ligament tear, out), Richaun Holmes (concussion, out), Gerald Henderson (left hip pain, out), Sergio Rodriguez (left ankle sprain, out).

NUGGETS (14-18)

8 Danilo Gallinari SF 6-10 16.8 ppg. 5.0 rpg.

21 Wilson Chandler PF 6-10 16.4 ppg 7.0 rpg.

15 Nikola Jokic C 6-10 11.9 ppg. 7.6 rpg.

14 Gary Harris SG 6-4  12.5 ppg. 2.7 rpg.

0 Emmanuel Mudiay  PG 6-5  12.8  ppg. 3.7 apg.

Coach: Mike Malone (fourth season, 86-134)

Injury report:  TBD

THE SERIES

The Sixers own a 46-37 series advantage. The Nuggets, however, have won the last three meetings.

LAST SERIES MEETING:  The Sixers were in especially bad shape when the teams last met on Dec. 5. They were shorthanded and simply bad in a 106-98 loss to the struggling Nuggets at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid struggled mightily. So did Stauskas and Hollis Thompson. The team committed 19 turnovers - 14 after intermission. The turnovers they committed on their last two possessions were indicative of the Sixers' night.

They had a five-second violation on the next-to-last possession. Then they threw the ball out of bounds. Both possessions came out of timeouts.

Embiid missed 10 of his first 13 shots. Things were so bad that he hit himself twice on the side of the head when he was replaced with eight minutes, seven seconds remaining.

The rookie salvaged things a little bit by making his next two shots and finished 5 for 15 en route to 16 points. He did have a game-high five blocks to go with four rebounds and three turnovers.

Stauskas finished with four points on 1-for-7 shooting, while Thompson was held scoreless after missing all three of his attempts.

The Sixers were without Covington (left knee sprain, flu symptoms), Okafor (gastroenteritis), Bayless (left wrist ligament tear), reserve center Nerlens Noel (inflamed left knee), and Simmons (fractured right foot).

UPCOMING GAMES

Tuesday: 7 p.m., at Wells Fargo Center, Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Sixers

Jan. 6: 7:30 p.m., at T.D. Garden, Sixers vs. Boston Celtics

Jan. 8: 12 p.m., at Barclays Center, Sixers vs. Brooklyn Nets

Jan. 11: 7 p.m., at Wells Fargo Center, Sixers vs. New York Knicks

Jan. 13:  7 p.m., at Wells Fargo Center, Charlotte Hornets vs. Sixers

Follow and contact 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers.