The Philadelphia 76ers have an NBA-high 7 wins. However, today they were just the Philadelphia 7 as that is all they had available to suit up due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and they were no match for the Denver Nuggets. Philadelphia, who were without their star players Joel Embid and Ben Simmons, put up a respectable effort, but it was clear that the short-handed 76ers were gassed in the second half against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.The Denver Nuggets, who have COVID-19 issues of their own and were without Michael Porter Jr. for the fifth consecutive game, produced a strong all-around performance where they had six players score double-digit points.Nikola Jovic provided another terrific game finishing one assist shy of a triple-double. At the same time, Gary Harris led the team in scoring with 21 points.Danny Green finished with 11 points and Tyrese Maxey, the game's leading scorer, had 39 points on 18-for-33 shooting for the Philadelphia 76ers.Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers looked strong in the first half.Denver Nuggets v Philadelphia 76ersThe Philadelphia 76ers started the game with three rookies and looked to be in for a long night as the Denver Nuggets started the game converting on their first six shots.However, after a timeout from Doc Rivers, the 76ers were able to bounce back and play a competitive first half of basketball due to the play of their first round draft pick, Tyrese Maxey.#sixers lineup looking very Process-era today.— Michael K-B (@therealmikekb) January 9, 2021Why they use Tyrese Maxey school photo for this? 😂 pic.twitter.com/WVFULC1kGc— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) January 9, 2021Tyrese Maxey before Sixers plays the Nuggets today pic.twitter.com/qo0aMZDJz9— Tyrese Maxey Burner Account (@reesesmaxey) January 9, 2021Me after Tyrese Maxey, Franklin the dog, two of my children and a grilled cheese sandwich defeat the Denver Nuggets pic.twitter.com/p60ZvVLg9C— Chartisse (@SnowmanEmbiid) January 9, 2021Tyrese Maxey in this game: pic.twitter.com/Co7I84c7wB— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) January 9, 2021Heading into today's game, Tyrese Maxey was averaging just under 16 minutes a game. He surpassed that today with five minutes still to go in the first half.Dwight Howard playing pg for the Sixers tonight pic.twitter.com/kOxmBlifEb— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) January 9, 2021DWIGHT HOWARD FOR THREE pic.twitter.com/nAcBXhYDua— izdi (@mfairuzizdi) January 9, 2021Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers frustratedly joked about how Dwight Howard would have to play point guard due to only have seven players available to play.Tyrese Maxey is the best player from this draft class— carlos (@shedntluvcarlos) January 9, 2021Sixers rookie Tyrese Maxey against the Denver Nuggets today: Career-high 39 points (18-33 FG, 3 3PM), 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.— THE NBA Hustle 🏀 (@TheNBAHustle) January 9, 2021Tyrese Maxey passed his previous NBA career-high (16) with four minutes to go in the second quarter, finishing the game with 39 points.Respect to the Sixers’ young guns for playing well today despite the circumstances.This dude Tyrese Maxey (39 points) going to be a PROBLEM in the future.#DENvsPHI #NBA pic.twitter.com/ohdRNpXfxF— Jamar Lewis (@JMar_lewis) January 9, 2021All jokes aside, the Philadelphia 76ers, who came into the game today with the best record in the league at 7-2, showed they have tons of talented young prospects in their ranks.Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets handle business in the second halfDenver Nuggets v Philadelphia 76ersThe Denver Nuggets came out of halftime rolling by outscoring the undermanned 76ers by 14 points in the third quarter.Interesting #Nuggets stat I just put together.Nikola Jokic has 45 triple doubles.And he has 16 games (including today) where he missed it by 1.That's crazy.— Nate Lundy (@natelundy) January 9, 2021NBA MVP Award Tracker:1. Nikola Jokic2. Joel Embiid3. Steph Curry4. Luka Doncic5. Giannis Antetokounmpo6. Bradley Beal7. Domantas Sabonis8. Julius Randle9. LeBron James10. James Harden(via @miamiheatzera1) https://t.co/vx7np45iah— Heatzera (@miamiheatzera1) January 9, 2021Nikola Jokic is averaging a triple-double this season with 24.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 11.0 assists, thus making him a favorite to win the MVP.The Denver Nuggets had 15 players get minutes. The Philadelphia 76ers had 7 players get minutes.— Brad (@Brad_Christy) January 9, 2021The Nuggets used more than their normal rotation tonight against the 76ers to ensure fresh legs in their current three-game road trip.2017-18 GARY HARRIS IS BACK— 𝓙𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓩𝓝🃏🃏 (@JokerSZN__) January 9, 2021Gary Harris smiled and admitted it “it felt good,” to see those shots fall down.“Got another one tomorrow...got to knock some shots down tomorrow.”— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) January 9, 2021It was a great sign for Denver Nuggets' fans to see Gary Harris produce a strong shooting night from three, as he was shooting just 13.8 percent from behind the arc prior to tonight's game.Ideal start to the road trip!#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/8DG8c8EHXS— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 9, 2021There is not much to assess for the Denver Nuggets in the win today against a short-handed Philadelphia side. Still, they will be leaving the arena smiling after adding another victory to their season total.