Tip-off: Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA

The Nuggets wrap up their 2017 with a visit from the Sixers.

The latest reports have Nuggets PF Paul Millsap out until the All-Star break as he recovers from wrist surgery. For Denver, the goal from now until then is to hang in the playoff picture. Millsap is the most prominent veteran on a team full of young players, and he looked like a perfect fit with the roster after joining the team as a free agent this past offseason. The Nuggets celebrated Christmas early with a shocking 96-81 win in Golden State on December 23rd, and they had a 3.5-game cushion in the Western Conference playoff standings by the holiday. They'll play their last game of 2017 on Saturday, when the visiting Philadelphia 76ers come to town. The Sixers had a full lineup on Christmas Day and took advantage with a 105-98 victory in Madison Square Garden that snapped a five-game losing streak. They'll be looking to leverage that momentum into a strong 2017 finish, and they'll play at Phoenix the night after playing in Denver.

Nearly every key contributor for this 76ers team has missed some number of games this season. That's no surprise when it comes to C Joel Embiid; in fact, it is impressive how many games he has played given how fragile he was last season. No one was surprised when he dominated on the Christmas Day stage against the Knicks, dropping 25 points to go with 16 rebounds and three blocks. He makes some awe-inspiring shots against tough defense, and Philadelphia ought to try and get him some more open looks on the interior. That starts with stretching the floor. SG JJ Redick and SF Robert Covington serve that role on the team, and the spacing of the Philadelphia offense suffers when either of them misses a game for some reason. Covington in particular is an excellent perimeter defender, and Redick is underrated in that capacity. Redick went off on Christmas with 24 points. PG Ben Simmons is king of a liability in the spreading-the-offense mission, but is a huge plus in every other way. Despite having no jumper he shoots over 50% from the floor thanks to smart shot selection, and he's a generational passer. He's also huge, standing as perhaps the most imposing point guard in league history at 6'10", 230 pounds. PF Dario Saric gets the start at the four, and brings the same versatility that makes the other big-name Sixers great. PF Trevor Booker has already picked up significant minutes since coming over in a trade with Brooklyn.

Millsap made a natural partner with C Nikola Jokic, as both are bigs—Jokic is more of a "huge"—who excel at passing the ball and finding open looks for their teammates. They're far from redundant when they're on the floor together, but the Nuggets are looking to still have a player to run the offense through in the low/high post in Jokic. (If, say, the Celtics lost Al Horford, they'd have no other player to fill his role.) Jokic is one of the NBA's brightest young stars at only 22 years old, although he doesn't seem to have taken significant steps forward since his breakout 2016-17 season. He may need another year or so to fulfill his potential as a truly dominant player. Around him, the Nuggets have several skilled wings ranging from shooters to slashers. SG Gary Harris is a consistent scorer, and he's shown flashes of more, like when he scored a career-high 36 points in mid-December. PG Jamal Murray is still working to become the deadeye shooter he was billed as when drafted, but has been a generally productive player despite that. He's not an ideal lead ball-handler, but the experience he's getting in the role will do big things for his development as a player. SG Will Barton is on pace for career highs in scoring, shooting percentage assists and minutes played, showing the significant growth he's made since being drafted in the second round five years ago. People forget about veteran SF Wilson Chandler, but he starts on this potentially playoff-bound team and had 15 and 9 against Golden State. SF Trey Lyles is one of the league's most underrated role players.