No.1 Philadelphia falls to the Nuggets, Russell triple-double after triple-double record

No. 1 in the Eastern Conference Philadelphia 76ers fall to the No. 5 in the Western Conference Denver Nuggets this Tuesday.

 The Denver Nuggets hosted the Philadelphia sixers this Tuesday at Ball Arena where the host won the game 104-95 against the 76ers.

Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordan, Nikola Jokic started for the Nuggets along with Jamal Murray and Will Barton.

Meanwhile, Dwight Howard, Tobias Harris, Danny Green, Ben Simmons, and Seth Curry started for the 76ers.

Starter Jamal Murray led the way for Denver as he scored 30 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

While another starter Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points, 4assists, and 12 rebounds along with five 3-pointers.

Likewise, Nikola Jokic contributed a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double including five assists.

On the other hand, 76ers’ starters couldn’t contribute much to the team causing them to lose against the Nuggets.

Key contributors for the 76ers were Tobias Harris, Dwight Howard, Tyrese Maxey.

Harris finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks. He shot 6-for-13 from the floor.

Similarly, Howard shot 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the foul line totaling 10 points and seven rebounds.

Maxey finished with a team-high 13 points off the bench, shooting 4-for-9 from the field along with two rebounds and an assist.

Poor start from the starters of 76ers.

The 76ers trailed the Nuggets throughout the game as the 76er’s starter could not contribute much in the first quarter.

The Nuggets scored 44 points in the first quarter while the 76ers only scored 22 points.

In the second quarter, the nuggets scored 24 points and the 76ers scored 23 points which quite decent but the total lead in the first half for the Nuggets was very high.

 The Sixers’ bench stepped up and narrowed the deficit to as few as six points late in the fourth quarter.

The 76ers’ backups closed the third quarter on a 10-2 run and kept up the pressure in the fourth.

They finally cut the deficit below double digits in the final minute while 76er’s starters cheered them on.

But it still was not enough for the 76ers to catch up with the Nuggets subsequently the 76ers lost to the Nuggets by 9 points.

On the other hand, the Nuggets’ starter played strong from the start.

The Nuggets’ Murray started things with a rare four-point play. Porter had a layup and Jokic scored on two layups and then Porter hit a 26-foot three-pointer to make it 22-10.

76er’s Seth Curry’s jumper broke the run, but the Nuggets scored 10 of the next 14 points.

Consequently, they increased their lead to 32-16. And after Matisse Thybulle made a three-pointer, Denver ended the first on a 12-3 run.

With Murray adding a 3-pointer subsequently making 16 points in the 1st quarter.

So, after the game, the Sixers are now 3-2 on their six-game road trip while Denver now sits at 29-18.

The Sixers will visit the Cavaliers (17-30) for the sixth and final stop on their road trip on Thursday, and Denver heads to LA on Thursday to take on the star-studded squad, LA Lakers.

Russell hits another triple- double 24 hours after making historic triple-double.

Washington Wizards invited the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena for the match.

Highlight for the host Wizards was Russell Westbrook triple-double along with a massive spike right on Bismack Biyombo’s face.

The move from Westbrook received lots of hype from his teammates.

Likewise the triple-double from Russell was third straight and 17th in this season. 

He made historic triple-double just before 24 hours where he scored with 35 points, 14 rebounds, and 21 assists.

It was for the first time a player scored 35 points and 21 assists triple-double.

And after 24 hours he again made a triple-double, scoring 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 15 assists.

Besides Russell, Wizard’s Rui Hachimura had great performance for the team where tied his carreer high with 30 points.

Rui Hachimura scored 30 points overall, 16 of them in the first half, including a buzzer beater to keep Washington within single digits.

He also made 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

“I was able to play with aggression from start to end,” said the 23-year-old Hachimura, who set his career high against the Los Angeles Clippers last season.

“It was the second night of a back-to-back for us, so we all got fatigued late in the game.”

Despite their great performance, it was not enough to deliver a win for the Washington Wizards as they fell 114-104 against the Hornets.

Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Gordon Hayward added 26 points overall, 15 of them in the first quarter for the Hornets.

He had 9-of-19 shooting, a season-high 11 rebounds and six assists in the victory over the Wizards.

The Charlotte Hornets Win over the Wizards

The Hornets were clearly in control for most of this game and the Wizards were behind by fewer than five points in the fourth quarter.

So, at the end it was the Hornets who took the win.

The Hornets broke the Wizards two game winning streak with this win while the Hornets got their fourth victory over five games.

Consequently, the Hornets are now 24-22 and sit alone in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Hornets will now head north to Brooklyn to face the Nets and Washington’s next game is on Thursday, April 1 to face the Detroit Pistons.