The inability to close out games has been the issue for the Nuggets early in the season, but the young team did just that in Monday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jamal Murray, fresh off of a Western Conference Rookie of the Month award, continued his strong start to the season with a 14-point second quarter that kick-started the run that propelled Denver to victory. He finished with 22 points in 23 minutes.

Danilo Gallinari continued his strong start to the season, too, as he scored a season-high 24 points. He connected on five of 12 shots and was aggressive all night, as he went to the free-throw line 12 times and converted on 11 of them.

Will Barton made yet another start as Gary Harris is still injured. Many believed that he would be worked slowly into the line-up after suffering an ankle injury of his own, but he played 35 minutes and had a very balanced stat-line of 22 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

The Big Man Matchup That Wasn’t

Much of the talk coming into the game was on the matchup at the center position between Denver’s Jusuf Nurkic and former No. 3 pick Joel Embiid. Both struggled to find a rhythm throughout the game, as Embiid shot two for 11 from the field through the third quarter. He totaled 16 points on five of 15 shooting and looked out of whack all night. Embiid did record a career-high five blocks, but also had three turnovers.

Nurkic was a little better, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds, while recording three blocks and two steals in 24 minutes of action.

Not Much Kenneth Faried Tonight

While Kenneth Faried is having one of his best seasons yet, one of the interesting things to keep track of is the rotations that Coach Malone is finishing games with. Typically, he has gone with Faried to close out games, especially in close situations, but today was a bit different, as we didn’t see much of Faried. He finished with only two points and two rebounds in just 12 minutes. This is something to keep an eye on going forward.

Favorable Stretch Coming

Denver Nuggets have had one of the most brutal schedules to start the season in the NBA, but now they find themselves in a favorable part of the season. Monday’s game was the second of a six-game road trip (they’ve seem to play better away).

Here is a look at their upcoming schedule:

Wed, Dec 7: @ Nets (5:30 PM)

Thu, Dec 8: @ Wizards (5:00 PM)

Sat, Dec 10: @ Magic (5:00 PM)

Mon, Dec 12: @ Mavericks (6:30 PM)