Sixers-Nuggets takeaways: Joel Embiid’s character and heart questioned; Paul Reed’s manifestation

DENVER – Paul Reed spoke his success into existence.

The Denver Nuggets fans and at least one Colorado reporter may never respect Joel Embiid. And the 76ers role players couldn’t buy a call.

Those three things stood out Saturday in the Nuggets’ 111-105 victory at Ball Arena.

A couple of weeks ago, Reed said his expectation was to replicate Embiid’s dominance whenever starting in place of the reigning MVP.

“Since he scores 30 points and gets 10 rebounds, I need to get 30 points and 10 rebounds in his place,” Reed said at the time.

» READ MORE: Undermanned Sixers fight hard, but are doomed by poor fourth-quarter shooting in loss to Nuggets

Well, the 6-foot-9 center did just that against the Nuggets after Embiid was a late scratch with a sore left knee. Reed finished with a career-high 30 points along with 13 rebounds and two steals. He even outplayed Denver center and two-time MVP Nikola Jokić during long stretches of the game.

“You don’t have the name B-Ball for no reason,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said, referring to Reed’s B-Ball Paul nickname. “He is basketball. So I’m just blessed to watch him grow, develop and find his stroke in this league. I think the sky’s the limit for him, because he works his butt off.

“So you know with opportunity equates to success, and that happened today.”

Reed made 14 of 21 shots — including going 2-for-4 on three-pointers. Afterward, Jokić gave him a lot of credit.

“We don’t need to talk about Joel Embiid, not just because he didn’t play, but because I think Paul Reed played really good for them,” Jokić said while bombarded with questions about Embiid sitting out. “And we need to give him credit. He was fighting, he attacked the glass, he shot the ball really well. I think he deserves, in this moment, more time than Joel.”

Jokić was impressed with how Reed approached the game.

“I feel like a guy like Nikola Jokić, it says a lot when you can put up a lot of points against him,” Reed said. “To me, it’s just Pat Bev, my point guard, making it easy to score out there, putting me in great positions to get good shots and making the game easy for me.”

But this was definitely a nationally televised coming out party for the fourth-year player. He showed the 19,805 in attendance and an ESPN audience his value to the Sixers (29-15).

“You know every time I step on the court I’m looking to do that,” Reed said. “Without our top three scorers [Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris] I knew I had to step up and be more of a scorer tonight for the team. So that’s what I was trying to do.”

No matter what the Sixers said about Embiid’s knee, Nuggets fans weren’t buying it. They believed the reigning MVP missed the game to avoid facing Jokić at high altitude.

One reporter even asked coach Nick Nurse if there was a pattern of Embiid not playing in Denver since 2019.

Nurse responded no, but the reporter wasn’t finished.

He asked if Embiid’s absence was a reflection on his character as a player that he seems to miss this game every year.

Rob King, the Sixers’ senior director of basketball communications, cut in to say, “I wouldn’t say that.”

Then Nurse said, “He was injured today.”

The Sixers’ athletic care team didn’t like what it saw from the 7-foot-2, 280-pounder during his on-court, pregame warmup and made the decision to shut him down.

He was booed when he emerged from the locker room to join his team midway through the fourth quarter.

When he wasn’t on the bench, the fans were vocal toward Embiid for missing four straight games here.

During the national anthem, a fan yelled “Embiid’s a coward,” drawing cheers. Then, in the first quarter, the crowd chanted “Where’s Embiid At? … Where’s Embiid At? … Where’s Embiid At?” They repeated that chant during various parts of the game.

He last played in Colorado on Nov. 8, 2019. Since then, he missed four matchups against Jokić and the Nuggets in Denver, leading to Saturday’s criticism.

Embiid has been dealing with a knee problem for a while. He was in noticeable pain after falling in Thursday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers. Nurse said he will be re-evaluated on Sunday.

“I don’t think that it’s anything that’s super major,” Nurse said. “But it’s always kind of monitoring any of the swelling or whatever’s going on. Try to get it under control and get him ready as soon as we can.”

» READ MORE: Sixers grades: Paul Reed stars in place of Joel Embiid; Marcus Morris’ varying halves

The Sixers were doomed in the fourth quarter by poor shooting, making just 6 of 21 shots. However, they also were unable to get any foul calls.

The Nuggets attempted 38 foul shots in the game, compared to 16 by the Sixers. Jokić had as many free throw attempts (16) as the Sixers combined. And that didn’t go unnoticed.

“Not good enough, got to be better, got to be better and we will,” Beverley said of the Sixers’ performance. “We have to find ways to win games without guys playing. We got enough talent around the room to get the job done and we came up short tonight, and they shot 38 free throws.”

Asked later about his 38 free throws comment, Beverley said the Nuggets may have been more aggressive than his team. It’s hard to say if he was being genuine, or just trying not to get fined for criticizing the officials.

Denver made 24 of their 38 foul shots, while the Sixers were 13 of 16. But on this night, they didn’t get any calls.