Noel Continues ROY Pace as Sixers Snap Road Skid in Denver

By Max Rappaport, Sixers.com

DENVER –– If you want to win on the road in the NBA, you have to clamp down and commit yourself to defense, you have to take care of the ball, and you have to keep the other team off the free-throw line. That was the message Brett Brown told his team, losers of their last 16 away from home. It clearly stuck.

In the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 99-85 win in Denver, the Sixers held the Nuggets to just nine points on 4-of-22 (18.2%) shooting, allowing them to attempt just four free throws and notch just a single takeaway.

“To come back and hold them to nine points to close out a road game, for that young team it’s a good effort,” Brown said after the game.

The defensive effort was led by rookie center Nerlens Noel, who notched four blocks and four steals on the night to go along with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. His performance was the first of its kind by a Sixer since Charles Barkley surpassed those same marks way back in 1986.

“Listen, people really have to start talking about him for Rookie of the Year,” Brown said after the game. “You just don’t repetitively bang out these types of performances and produce the numbers he is producing. He is a complete game-changer… He just keeps moving up the food chain and heading in the direction that we are all so thrilled about.”

Robert Covington led the way offensively, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting (6/11 3FG) off the bench. Fellow reserve Isaiah Canaan notched another 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting off the pine; eight of his points came in the final quarter. And Jerami Grant blocked five shots and added six points, four boards, and three assists in just his second start of the season.

For the Nuggets, Ty Lawson’s 19 points were a team-high. Wilson Chandler added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson scored a dozen off the bench. They were the only three Denver players to reach double figures in the game.

Behind The Number: 10

Only 10 games remain in the season, with five coming at the Sixers’ home in South Philly and the other five coming on the road. Six of the 10 games are against teams currently set to make the playoffs and two are against teams currently in the bottom five of the standings.

Up Next

The Sixers return home for a Friday night, 7pm (EST) meeting against the Los Angeles Clippers before departing for a one-game road trip to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers at 4:30pm (EST) on Sunday.