PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Pickett backpedaled down the court with a hop in his step and a cocky gleam in his eye. Hunter Tyson blurted profanities after converting a 4-point play. Zeke Nnaji rained 3s. The Nuggets reserves swaggered and flexed, and the Nuggets starters cheered from the end of their bench and taunted Philadelphia’s sideline when it didn’t have a challenge to use.
Up was down and left was right and the Nuggets refused to accept any notion of a scheduled loss against Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and the red-hot 76ers.
Bruce Brown scored a go-ahead fast-break layup with 5.